Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Time, Fault and Out ❯ Chapter 58 ( Chapter 58 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G'boys, I just borrow them from time to time to play with and return them a whole lot happier, ne? Written for pleasure not profit.

 

Rating: NC 17

 

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4

 

Warnings: AU, OOC, Lemon, Yaoi, Angst, Fluff, Sap, Vet themes.

 

Summary: Set 2 years after Equinity. Heero is now riding for the Kushrenada stable as well as attempting to qualify Zero for the Nations Cup team and ultimately his dream of riding at the Olympic games. But life is never an easy ride.

 

Notes: All the information on showjumping, horses, etc is taken from my own knowledge of the sport having been a competitor and now judge for many years and is written from an Australian perspective. The rules and regulations are courtesy of the E.F.A Handbook. (Equestrian Federation of Australia) Should you have any questions just e-mail me.

 

Fic 2 in the "Equine Intervention" Arc.

 

Dedication: To Klingonpoodle who gave me the plot bunny for the first fic and has since supplied my muse with its own plot bunny farm, and to 'Teddy Bear' my own courageous little showjumper whom Zero is based upon.

 

 

"Time, Fault and Out"

 

November. 2005 ShenLong

 

 

Chapter 58

 

Zero passed through the start flags and rapidly bore down on the first fence; a cross bar. It wasn't high, around four foot six and Zero cleared it easily. Landing over the first jump cleanly gave Heero a touch more confidence and he steadied the stallion for the second jump. The rails flashed beneath Zero's belly and they were making a sweeping, right hand turn for the first of the testing fences, a spread.

 

Sitting down into his saddle, Heero used his seat to bring the stallion a little more back to hand, Zero listening and responding beautifully.

 

"Nice jump," Treize murmured as he watched the gray sail over the spread.

 

Duo didn't bother to reply, he was too busy chewing his fingernails back to his elbows.

 

Another right hand turn brought the pair to fence four; the off set rails. While not a difficult jump, per say, the trick to this type of fence lay in its design. The rails, as indicated by the jump's name - off set - were exactly that. One end was higher, sloping down to the lower end and in this case, the lower end sloped towards the outside of the arena. A horse would naturally go for the lower part of a jump, it was pure instinct and thus with jump four it would gravitate towards the outer side of the jump and therein lay the tricky bit. The horse could either run out to the side of the fence and give the rider four penalties for a classified refusal, or if it jumped at the lower part, it would be off stride for coming into fence five A, the first element of the double.

 

It was a clever piece of designing by the course builder and would catch out a rider that wasn't concentrating. Heero knew this and made sure he had Zero's complete attention, lining up the center of the jump and riding Zero directly for it. The gray listened and took the jump dead in the middle, landing cleanly over it and coming into part A of the double on the perfect stride.

 

Zero gathered himself together and sprang into the air, soaring over the first part and landing neatly. Two strides later Zero was again in the air, this time clearing part B, the oxer.

 

"Oh crap, I don't think I can watch any more," Duo groaned as Heero made the left turn that would take him to the gate and the first of the really difficult part of the course.

 

"I know exactly how you feel," Zechs muttered and gave Duo what he hoped was a reassuring smile, somewhat reminiscent of Duo's earlier smile to him when Treize had been jumping.

 

“He's doing fine," Treize stated as his eyes never left his pupil and friend.

 

Zero was enjoying himself. He loved to jump and knew how to do it well. His gray ears were pricked as he approached the gate. Gathering himself together, he allowed his master to shorten his stride a fraction and then lengthen out to take the jump. Zero bounced off his hocks and into the air, flying over the gate and landing safely. He tossed his head slightly and pulled at the firm hold his master had on the reins.

 

"Take it easy, Zero. The hard one is yet to come," Heero muttered softly to his horse. He gave the stallion's neck a brief caress with his knuckles, pleased to feel the muscle quiver in response before gathering his horse together and sitting down deep into the saddle to make the turn to fence seven.

 

Hooves bit deep into the sawdust as Zero turned and then straightened. Heero had recalled how Treize had taken a slightly wider track than most and ultimately give his horse that little bit more room to meet the parallel bars dead straight. He did the same with Zero, the stallion lining up the jump and driving himself into the air.

 

Treize gave a low whistle of appreciation. “Very nicely done,” he commented.

 

Duo was too busy chewing on the end of his braid. He'd given up on the fingernails, mainly because if he bit them any further he'd draw blood.

 

"Duo?"

 

Duo turned to see Zechs looking at him, an amused smile on his face. “Yeah?”

 

"Keep that up and you'll get a hair ball."

 

“Ah.” Duo removed the now soggy, tufted end from his mouth. He contemplated biting his toe nails, but then discarded that idea, he didn't think it would go down too well with his companions if he were to remove his boots and begin chewing on his big toe! He settled for fiddling with the braid instead.

 

Zechs shook his head and returned his attention to the arena and Heero who was now jumping fence eight.

 

“Good boy, Zero,” Heero praised as the stallion landed over the rustic hedge. "Now for the real test. This one's a nasty one, Zero, we have to get it right."

 

Zero could hear the change in the tone of his master's voice and sensed the nervousness in his rider's body; it made him a little unsettled.

 

Sitting down into the saddle, Heero used his seat and legs to check Zero's speed, bringing the stallion back to hand and making the required turn. Ahead loomed the first fence in the triple and with each closing stride it seemed to get bigger. Taking a stronger hold on Zero's mouth and preventing the horse from moving forward too fast, Heero drove his legs against Zero's sides, pushing the stallion's hocks right underneath him, keeping the stride short but full of impulsion.

 

Duo could see what Heero was doing and mentally cheered. Zero did look something like a kangaroo, the way he was almost bouncing on the spot.

 

Easing the reins through his fingers, Heero let the stallion start to lengthen out a touch, still keeping the forward momentum, remaining as calm as he could despite the butterflies that had returned to his stomach. Three strides away Heero gave Zero the rein the stallion fought for and let him go.

 

Zero bounded up to the first element of the triple, gathered himself together and leapt into the air. Part A flashed beneath them and then Zero was landing. As his hind legs came back to earth, legs appeared against his sides and Zero pushed his hind quarters back underneath. He took one, then two strides and launched himself again, forelegs tucking neatly against his body as he cleared the second element. Those same forelegs came out and took the full shock of impact as Zero landed, hooves digging deep into the ground as the gray took another stride and then flew into the air again.

 

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," Duo chanted as he dug his fingernails into his palm, eyes riveted to his lover and horse.

 

Heero closed his eyes as the stallion pushed off the ground. Zero felt like he was in the air for ages before the gray finally touched ground again. Ears strained for the sound of falling poles, but there was nothing and Heero resisted the urge to look back. Gathering his mind together, Heero concentrated on making the left hand turn that would bring them to fence ten; the other triple. This one was what was known as a 'closed triple', all three poles being together to form one fence. The lowest pole at the bottom and rising up through the middle pole to the third pole which was the highest. The fence stood at five foot two with a spread of five feet. While not a difficult jump, it wasn't easy either, especially after having just completed the previous, very taxing obstacle.

 

Feeling the impulsion starting to leave his horse, Heero applied his legs and took a slightly stronger contact with Zero's mouth, pushing the stallion together and containing the energy. Zero looked for the next fence, ears flicking back and forth as he listened to the signals from his master.

 

"Another big one, Zero," Heero muttered as he drove his legs harder against Zero's sides.

 

Gauging the height of the fence and picking his take off point, Zero gathered himself together, pushed his hocks under him and launched himself into the air. He didn't make quite as good a leap and felt the back pole scrape against his belly. Zero twisted his hind legs in mid air, managing to get them over the pole without knocking it from the cups.

 

"Fuck!" Duo swore under his breath as he watched the pole roll in its cups and Zero's twist to prevent the pole from being dislodged.

 

"Smart horse," Treize commented.

 

Duo's heart was in his mouth though as he watched Zero land.

 

The twist had thrown Zero's balance off a bit and as he landed his weight was taken awkwardly on his forelegs. He stumbled, going down on one knee and then heaving himself up, driving powerful hind quarters underneath and pushing his body forwards and upwards. Heero was thrown forward in his saddle, letting the reins slip through his fingers so as not to jag Zero in the mouth as the gray's head and neck came up. With Heero tipping forward as Zero's head came up, the stallion caught his master a blow to the nose, the stiff mane hairs catching Heero in the face and causing his eyes to water. Heero's arm also jarred against Zero's neck sending shooting pains through the muscles and causing Heero to grit his teeth and fight off the threatening nausea. Blood began to run from the battered nose as Heero tried to clear his vision. Pushing himself back into his saddle and taking a precious moment to swipe at his eyes, Heero realized they were not quite on track for jump eleven; the water.

 

Retrieving his reins, Heero managed to gather them up and ride his horse together, the pain shooting through his arm making it a little more difficult, but he managed; turning slightly he headed Zero back in the right direction.

 

Up in the stands, Duo was almost having kittens. His eyes were scanning both horse and rider for any visible sign of injury. His heart was in his mouth when Zero stumbled, visions of the stallion's fall at a certain agricultural show and resulting foreleg injury sprang to mind. He was slightly relieved to note when Zero recovered from the stumble there wasn't a trace of a limp; not that he would be completely satisfied until he'd examined the horse thoroughly afterwards. The distance was too far for him to see Heero's nosebleed or grimace of pain and given that his lover seemed to be getting his horse back on track, Duo had to be content to assume that all was okay.

 

Treize had also felt the tension rise a notch when the gray stumbled. He sighed in relief though as he watched his pupil act on reflex, recovering quickly and riding his horse together again.

 

Watching the horse and rider as well as the pair beside him had Zechs wondering if he would be needed to administer CPR or mouth to mouth very shortly. While he knew Treize probably wouldn't object, Heero just might have something to say if he found out Zechs had been locked at the lip with his lover, even if it was in the capacity of resuscitation and that would probably lead to Zechs requiring medical attention himself. No, he decided. If Duo needed mouth to mouth, Zechs would call for a medic and plead ignorance.

 

Approaching the water jump, Heero knew they didn't quite have enough impulsion to go with the speed. He sat down a little deeper, shortened his reins as best he could and tried to slow Zero a little and put a touch more energy into those powerful hind quarters.

 

Zero responded, noted the small rail and expanse of water and hesitated for a second. His master's legs though were against his sides, driving him on. Zero still wasn't too sure and slackened his pace a little more than his master wanted. Seat and legs pushed hard against him and Zero decided that if his master was that determined then there really wasn't anything to be worried about. He stretched out and gathered himself together, picking his take off point and leaping over the water.

 

The size of the leap took Heero a little by surprise and he grabbed hold of the mane to keep himself steady, his arm protesting the movement. Water passed beneath them as Zero reached for the dry ground on the other side. Despite the full out stretch of his forelegs, Zero's hind legs didn't quite make it to dry ground and his right hind landed in the water. The steward raised his flag.

 

“Shit, damn, bugger and all those other swear words,” Duo muttered.

 

Zechs raised a pale eyebrow.

 

“What? You swore when Treize knocked down a rail,” Duo stated in his own defense.

 

“That I did, but only one word,” Zechs replied.

 

“Well, I'm just getting in and saving everyone else the trouble by doing it for them.”

 

“Children, could you please stop your bickering for a moment and watch the final jump?” Treize interrupted them.

 

Sheepishly the pair turned back to the arena and the wall.

 

Zero was tiring, Heero could feel it in the stallion's stride. The course had been a big one and testing to say the least. Thankfully they only had one jump to go and Heero was determined to clear it.

 

“Last one, Zero,” he said quietly to the horse. “Clear this and you will get a truck load of carrots.” Heero ran his hand along the damp neck, feeling the muscle twitch in response. Keeping the touch with Zero's mouth light, Heero rode the gray at the final fence.

 

Red 'bricks' loomed before them, Zero's ears went forward, his stride shortened for a couple of strides as he sized up the fence and then he bounded forward, leaping into the air and sailing over the wall with ease. They landed cleanly on the other side and Zero cantered through the finish flags to the sounds of cheering and applause. He snorted and gave a small buck. Evidently he wasn't that tired.

 

Watching Heero clear the wall and pass through the finish flags drew Duo to his feet and he cheered long and loud with the rest of the spectators. “Yes!” he crowed.

 

“Four penalties for Heero Yuy and Zero, the third team member for the Australian team,” the announcer stated.

 

Duo was quickly scrambling from his seat and out of the arena to congratulate his lover and feed his charge all the carrots he could eat.

 

Exiting, Heero found Noin waiting immediately outside for him. Slowing Zero to a walk and then halt, he patted the gray neck as he spotted Duo out the corner of his eye almost breaking his neck to get to them. The pain in his arm had eased to a dull ache so Heero tried to ignore it.

 

“Well done, Heero,“ Noin congratulated as she patted the gray's shoulder. “What on earth happened to your nose?” Noin fished around in her pocket and produced a wad of tissues. “Here.”

 

“Thanks.” Heero took the offered tissues and held them under his nose in an attempt to staunch the blood flow.

 

“Heero,” Duo panted as he finally made it to his lover's side - and noticed the blood. “What the hell? Are you okay? What happened?”

 

“Nose bleed,” Heero mumbled through the tissues. “Zero's neck caught me in the nose when he stumbled.” Heero declined to add that he'd hurt his arm as well, for now he'd keep that information to himself.

 

Treize, Zechs and Zoe all arrived at that moment and were all just as shocked and worried when they saw the blood spattered rider and horse. Noin stepped in and took over now that she knew what was wrong, especially as the media were all starting to converge as well. “Heero, get off that horse and come over here and sit down. Zoe, you go find one of the medical officers, I want Heero's nose and the rest of him checked over; just as a precaution,” she added when she saw the glare Heero was giving her from behind the tissues. “Duo, you take charge of Zero. Treize, I want you to sit with Heero until the medic gets here. I have to go see how the rest of the riders are faring and speak with Alex; I also need to deal with the press. I will be back.”

 

Zoe disappeared in search of the medic. Heero dismounted and allowed Treize to lead him to the side and sit him down. Noin spoke with the media, assuring them that Heero was fine and just suffering from a nosebleed and that they would get their chance to speak with him later. Duo was torn between wanting to take care of his lover and taking care of the horse. Zero gave the nice human a nudge and made Duo's mind up for him.

 

“Come on, Zero. Let's get you a little more comfortable,” Duo said softly as he loosened the girth and ran the stirrups up.

 

“Want a hand?”

 

Duo turned to see Zechs standing beside him.

 

“Everyone else seems to have something to do and I'm feeling a little redundant here,” said Zechs by way of explanation.

 

“Sure, a hand would be nice,” Duo replied. “I really want to check out his forelegs, he took a nasty stumble and I want to be certain he didn't do any damage to himself.”

 

“I'll hold him for you if you like.”

 

“Thanks.” Duo passed the reins over to Zechs and then crouched beside Zero's left foreleg. He ran his hands expertly over the forearm and knee, sliding gently down the cannon bone and feeling for any lumps, bumps, heat or swelling that shouldn't be there. He didn't find anything. Switching to the right foreleg, Duo repeated the examination, happy when he didn't find anything that shouldn't be there either.

 

“What's the verdict?” Zechs asked, his own eyes roaming over the gray's front legs.

 

“All seems to be fine,” Duo replied as he straightened up. Duo fished in his pocket for a moment and withdrew a handful of carrots. “Here you go, Zero. You've earned them.”

 

Zero wuffled in delight and made short work of the carrots.

 

"Any sign of the medic?" Duo asked as he patted Zero's neck.

 

"Can't see anyone as yet, just Treize and Heero still sitting there." Zechs used his height to allow him to scan over the crowd.

 

"Okay. Zechs? Could you do me a favor please?"

 

"Sure."

 

"I'm going to take Zero back to the stables, unsaddle him and make him comfortable. Would you let Heero know where I am and that I'll be back as soon as I've finished with Zero, please?"

 

"No problem."

 

"Thanks." Duo began to lead the gray back to the stables, Zero walking happily at the nice human's side and politely asking for more carrots.

 

* * *

Zoe managed to find a medic and brought the man to Heero. Grudgingly, Heero submitted to the check over, the medic finding nothing wrong other than the bruising to Heero's nose. Applying a cool compress to the bridge of Heero's nose the bleeding soon stopped and the medic gave Heero the all clear. Heero kept quiet about his aching arm and the medic, none the wiser, didn't examine as thoroughly as he normally would have seeing as how the 'patient' didn't complain about any other injury.

 

Zechs delivered Duo's message just before the medic arrived and by the time he'd finished treating Heero, Duo had returned. With the 'crisis' now over, Heero wanted nothing more than for all the fussing to stop; preferably before anyone cottoned on to the fact that he was favoring his arm just a touch. Luckily for him, Noin returned with the much anticipated information on how the remaining cup riders had fared and the attention was switched.

 

“The Japanese rider had eight faults, the German none and the French rider four. By my calculations that currently puts us in second place behind the German team,” Noin informed them all.

 

“Damn!” Heero muttered. “I should have gone clear.”

 

“Heero.” Noin turned to face the rider. “You did a fine round with nothing to be ashamed of. Four faults isn't a bad score at all and we still have the number four riders to go, not to mention tomorrow's rounds. I think you should be proud of yourself and your horse. For your first time in international competition you have performed extremely well. I'm proud of you. In fact, I'm proud of you all,” Noin said as she smiled at her team. “Now, let's all go back inside and watch the last riders go, I'm sure Alex would appreciate the support.”

 

Everyone nodded and began to make their way back towards the arena. Heero fell into step beside Treize, Duo at his side. They spotted Alex walking Firefox around and stopped to wish him luck. Alex looked a little green to Duo, but then again, so did some of the other riders. Duo hoped Alex would settle down and not let the nerves get to him.

 

They found Noin and the others inside and sat with them, the commentator announcing that these were the last team riders to go and after the final round the team coaches would be called into the briefing room to inform the judges and scoring committee which of their respective team riders score they would be dropping to leave a final team score.

 

The English rider entered with a determined look on his face. He saluted and started his course. Not long after he was leaving the arena to the sound of applause and the English teams' first clear round.

 

The Italian rider made four faults as did the Swedish rider. The last of the South Africans to go made a complete mess of the triple and came out with eight faults. The New Zealand rider looked confident and rode the course with precision but a little too slow for Heero's liking. They were clear until the last fence when the bay didn't have enough 'steam' to get over the wall and sent the bricks scattering.

 

“Four faults,” the commentator announced. “Rider four for Australia; Alex Grant on Firefox. This is Alex's first time in international competition. He started his equestrian career with camp drafting, winning many major events before switching to show jumping. Since purchasing Firefox, Alex has risen rapidly through the ranks and is now one of Australia's top speed competitors.”

 

The announcer went quiet as Alex saluted the judge and headed for the start. Heero held his breath and subtly rubbed his arm, Treize remained fixated on the horse and rider in the ring while Duo was seriously considering taking a vacation after all this stress! God help him if Heero did make it to the Olympic games, Duo was certain he would need a pacemaker!

 

Noin sat quietly watching, her eyes never leaving the chestnut and his rider. She noted the determination in the rider's body and the slight tremble of Alex's hand as he saluted the judge. Mentally she sent a prayer to whatever god was listening that Firefox and Alex would give the round their best shot. She had faith in the pair though; but it didn't hurt to have a back up.

 

Alex collected his horse, Noin's and Dermail's lessons at the camp coming back to him. He took a deep breath and forced all thoughts other than the course ahead from his mind. He scratched his horse on the shoulder to let the animal know this was important and then they were through the flags and heading for the first fence.

 

“So far so good,” commented Treize as they watched Alex clear the first four fences.

 

“Firefox looks happy,” Zoe commented as she watched the chestnut with his ears pricked eagerly approaching the double.

 

“Good striding,” Heero muttered as Firefox cleared both elements and rebalanced for the turn to fence six.

 

“Now for the first real challenge,” Noin said as her eyes narrowed. “That's it, take it steady, Alex,” the coach muttered under her breath.

 

Alex had collected his horse and the gelding cleared fence six, landing and turning perfectly for fence seven. Moments later they had successfully jumped the parallel bars and heading for jump eight.

 

“That should give him some confidence,” Zoe said. “He was worried about that turn.”

 

“He's certainly improved,” commented Treize.

 

“That he has,” Noin replied a little absently.

 

Jump eight was also cleared and the pair were making their way towards the dreaded triple. Alex tried hard to ride Firefox together, bringing the gelding's hocks right underneath him and supplying the power they would need to clear each of the three elements.

 

Firefox was pulling hard, he could see the jumps ahead and wanted to go. His master's hands though held him in check and the chestnut showed his displeasure by throwing in a cat leap.

 

“Impatient little devil,” Zechs stated in an amused tone.

 

Alex gave the horse his head and Firefox tore at the first element. He grunted as he leapt into the air, the jump passing cleanly beneath him. Landing, he took the two strides and launched again into the air. This time the leap took a little more out of the horse and Alex had to use his seat quickly to push the gelding's hind quarters back underneath him before jumping part C.

 

Firefox responded gamely, putting everything he had into the leap, the energy that propelled him forward caught Alex a little off guard and he found himself a little further out of his saddle than he would have liked. Once hooves touched down, Alex came back to his saddle a little harder than normal, Firefox not appreciating the 'thump' of his master's weight against his back. He threw in a small buck and nearly lost his footing.

 

"Shit!" Duo cursed under his breath.

 

"All he needs to do is keep it together for the last three jumps," Heero stated as his eyes never left the pair in the arena.

 

Alex checked his horse, steadied and then let the chestnut have his head over fence ten. Firefox cleared it and headed for the water.

 

"This will be the test," Noin muttered.

 

"I take it Firefox doesn't like water?" Treize asked.

 

"No, he's not keen on it. If Alex keeps him between hand and leg then there's no reason for him not to jump it. If Alex doesn't have him firmly under control, he'll try to duck out to the side." Noin had begun to bite her fingernails, much to Duo's amusement.

 

Alex knew what lay ahead and knowing his horse's dislike of water, he sat down hard into his saddle and rode the chestnut forward with a determined air. Firefox spotted the water and laid his ears back. Alex pushed hard with his legs, increasing the chestnut's speed. Firefox lengthened out his stride, ears still flat back and swished his tail. He didn't like water!

 

Feeling his horse's reluctance building, Alex made sure he had a firm contact with the gelding's mouth, sat down and used his seat, bringing his legs against the horse's side to the point where instead of giving a squeeze with his calf muscles, Alex kicked instead.

 

The kicks took Firefox by surprise and he bounded forward. He was almost at the water and hesitated slightly but didn't have a chance to refuse, run out or stop. His master's legs were hard on his sides, another kick and Firefox picked his take off point, deciding it would be far better to jump the hated water than have his master kick him like that again!

 

Hind legs propelled the chestnut forward, no height was needed, just length. Chestnut forelegs reached out, stretching for the opposite end and landing safely in the dirt. Hind legs followed and those watching in the stands gave a sigh of relief. Firefox snorted and shook his head; there was no way he was going to get his feet wet!

 

"One to go, boy," Alex told his horse as he made the right hand turn for the wall. Firefox swiveled an ear back to listen and then spotted the wall. They were slightly off stride coming into it.

 

"Oh crap," Heero said as he saw Alex try to adjust the animal's stride.

 

Alex realized they weren't coming in correctly and tried to shorten Firefox's stride. They would be half a stride out if they continued on their current course and that meant they either took off far too early meaning the horse would need to stretch to get the distance or get right underneath the jump and then jump it which would put more strain on the horse's hind quarters as they would be practically leaping straight up instead of in an arc.

 

Firefox could sense the finish and pulled hard, resisting his master's attempts to adjust his stride. They came barreling towards the wall, Firefox realizing he was on the wrong stride but unable to do anything to change it now. Putting in a really short stride, the chestnut got in close to the wall base and literally sprang straight up into the air.

 

"I didn't think rock climbing was part of showjumping," Duo commented as he watched the horse moving almost dead straight upward.

 

"Tell me when it's over," Zoe said and hid her face behind Treize.

 

It seemed the entire audience held their breath as the chestnut rose into the air and somehow managed to scrape over the top of the wall and still leave all the bricks there. The sound of thudding hooves reached many ears and then Firefox was through the finish flags.

 

"Clear round!" the commentator announced.

 

Once more the arena burst into cheers, Zoe thought she was going to burst into tears and Duo thought Noin was going to burst a blood vessel given the look on the coach's face.

 

"Come on! We have to go congratulate him!" Zoe all but yelled and grabbed Heero and Treize by the arms, hauling them to their feet. Heero winced as Zoe's tug sent a wave of pain through his arm. Duo frowned. He'd noticed the wince and filed it away in his mind to ask Heero about afterwards.

 

The group all scrambled from their places and outside to where Alex was sitting on his horse, a dazed expression on his face. Crowding around, they all congratulated him, praising him and his horse on a fine round. The press came forth and had their moment, Heero being drawn into the 'interview' as well as they had missed their chance with him earlier.

 

Charlie took his charge to one side, loosened the girth and ran the stirrups up before tossing a light rug over the horse and walking him around.

 

"I'm going back in to see how the rest of the teams fare," Noin announced. "I'll see you all back at the stables soon. I have to go to the stewards' room once the last rider has gone and let them know which score I'm dropping so we will have a team score for this round. I'll also be able to get a running tally on all the other teams too."

 

Charlie and Alex departed to settle Firefox, Zoe went with them as she wanted to check on Periwinkle, the rest of the group returned to the arena to finish watching the last of the riders compete. The Japanese rider had just finished his round and from the applause, he'd also gone clear. The commentator confirmed that a second later.

 

The last of the German riders entered and Duo sat enthralled as the man and his almost white horse made their way around the course. The European riders were certainly something to watch and the experience they had gained from the types of competition held on the European show jumping circuit definitely showed through. The German rider though became unstuck at fence seven, taking the top rails down and earning four faults. Duo tried not to appear too happy about that lest he give the impression he was a bad sportsman; but inside he was cheering.

 

The French rider was the last to go and rode an excellent course, neat and precise, he came out with a clear round. As he left the arena so the ground crew moved in and began to alter the course for the next event that was to take place. Noin departed, heading for the stewards' room while the rest of the team and the grooms wandered back to the stables to settle their respective mounts for the night.

 

* * *

 

Charlie led Firefox back to his stable and removed the gelding's bridle, replacing it with the halter and tying the horse up. The light rug was removed and then the saddle followed. Bending down, Charlie began the task of removing the jumping boots that the chestnut wore, unbuckling the left foreleg first, then the hind before moving to the right hand side and repeating the task. When he went to remove the right foreleg boot he paused. A few drops of blood could be seen on the concrete. Charlie's heart froze and with trembling fingers he began to unbuckle the boot. Removing it completely he could see it was stained red on the inside, quickly his fingers set about probing the foreleg, trying to find the source of the blood.

 

He located a nasty cut just above the fetlock on the back of the cannon bone.

 

"Alex? I think you need to come take a look at this."

 

"What is it?" Alex asked as he walked over to where Charlie was crouched beside his horse.

 

Charlie raised his blood coated fingers for Alex to see.

 

"Oh fuck! What happened? How bad is it?" Alex crouched beside his groom and the pair did their best to push the hair aside and see the true extent of the damage.

 

"Crap. He's going to need a vet for that."

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...