First, she was wearing jeans, which was weird enough in itself. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever worn jeans, but the stabler had insisted that she couldn't ride a horse in a skirt. The leer in the young-looking man's eyes as he studied her skirt, the hem of which came above her knees, had creeped her out enough to pre-empt any stubbornness on her part, although she liked to think she'd have recognised the wisdom of his words before insisting right back that her skirt was just fine, thank you very much.
When the stabler pointed out a conveniently located clothes store across the street, she'd headed right for it and marched up to the nearest assistant with a bravery borne out of excitement, and had even managed to explain her needs with a minimal amount of stammering. The assistant, unaware of what a triumph that had been for Piper, walked her over to a selection of jeans she said were best suited to horse-riding, since they had no inner seams. To Piper, who loved to wear pretty colours and had never once worn anything that didn't feature some form of embroidery or print, or stockings with anything less than colourful stripes, the jeans were boring and plain. But she supposed in the long run that was a good thing; it was probably going to be a muddy trip.
In a hurry, she'd tried on the first pair of worn-looking stonewash bootcuts she found in her size, Piper dashed off to the dressing room and discovered that while they fit well enough around, they were some three or four inches too long. Even the shorter jeans she tried on next were still too long in the hem but when she put her boots back on, her candy-striped stockings hidden beneath her new jeans, she discovered that if she turned the hem up a bit, they fit fine.
They cost more alone than she'd intended to pay for the entire day out but she didn't really care. Despite the trip to Paris with Wolf weeks ago, she had slowly begun to feel as if she were trapped. She loved her life, she really did, but there was just something... making her feel caged. Seeing the way Wolf and his friends were always so free; it was recklessness, sure, and the kind of recklessness she wanted no part of, but at the same time they were free. Completely free to do whatever they wanted, and only limited by their imaginations and what they considered fun. Piper had always envied them that, not least because Wolf never really seemed interested in the safe kinds of fun she wanted to try. Even when he did agree to go exploring with her on various trips, something always seemed to happen and he lost the mood.
Cal's return was a god-send in that respect. Realising that he'd been travelling, without knowing the details, had re-energized Piper's desire to explore Elysia, especially in light of the conversation they'd had in the cafe that day with Sabrina about not knowing much about their Elysian heritage. So when that Sunday came around and Wolf decided to hang out with his mates, Piper immediately pulled out her cellphone and called Cal.
It was probably odd that she thought of him before Dora, but then, Dora was probably busy with Aidely stuff and had more than likely already been everywhere. At any rate, she hadn't really been available in the last few months so it simply didn't occur to Piper to call her. She would have called Sabrina too, but they hadn't exchanged phone numbers and Piper wasn't feeling brave enough to invite a relative stranger - even one she got on with so well - along to a town that was, in essence, out in the boondocks.
Now, a packed lunch and iced water tucked away in the saddlebags, Piper bobbed from side to side in the saddle, clinging on for dear life and grinning like the village idiot. She had no idea where they were, but the stabler had said to just follow the path and they'd arrive eventually. She'd worried they'd get lost but the path was well-trodden and the horse, a docile mare, seemed to know where it was going.
Well, actually it was an Australian pony. Piper had been too nervous of the horses, however gentle they'd seemed, because they were just so big, and the stabler had taken one look at her backing away from a curious gelding and declared that it was ponydom for her. She was actually quite happy with that decision and had gladly left the horse stalls to check out the ponies instead. This one, Hershey, was apparently a brown bay that reminded Piper very much of chocolate (which was probably the reason for the name) and, according to the stabler, trained to carry children and smaller adults like her.
The scenery along the way had been breathtaking in places. They'd travelled up the beach a ways from the portal, the sound of the ocean filling her with a kind of tranquility she hadn't felt in such a long time she'd almost asked to stop and spend the day on the beach instead. Still, they'd left the beach behind and followed the worn path, which was probably more of an unpaved road than a hiking path. The terrain got greener and wetter the further they travelled until finally the lake was in sight, and Piper was astounded that anyone would call something a lake when the water barely visible beneath the reeds and grasses.
And still, despite the periodic swarm of tiny blackflies and the occasional buzz of larger insects, Piper continued to grin like an idiot.
Evie, I'm hoping I haven't godmodded drastically! I've tried to take them as close to Danurai as I can so that we can safely post within the Danurai area (taking Cal's level into account ^__^) but so that you have chance to actually post. I think this was in danger of becoming a short story. ¬_¬ Anyway, if you want me to edit anything, let me know.