"Am I?" Saneyuki turned to Moriko, laughing. "I am not sure this counts. You are literally walking me." Still, despite his protests his eyes were gleaming with joy. "Just, don't make me gallop!" The young man sounded a bit tense, as delighted as he was. "Somehow I though that this would be harder."

"Sometimes the fear of something is greater than the thing itself," Moriko answered, "but this counts, I promise. From here it's just practice." His happiness infused the girl, like an infection, "it can be more complicated when you have to deal with complicated terrain, or looking out for wildlife, but this is a start."

"That might be so." the young man replied, his knuckles still while as he clung to Pippi's plumage. "Doesn't feel like I am doing much, other than just holding on tight." he added, still smiling. "Well, I guess we aren't heading into the wilds quite yet. Not sure I'd manage to stay on if she decided to bolt or something. I do like the forest, but not enough to fall face first into it."

Moriko grinned cheekily, she was very tempted to have the otori break into a surprise trot, to see if he was right. She believed that it was important to fall at least once while learning to ride; like getting on an otori's back, the fear of the thing was often worse—though not always—than the thought of it. "We must walk before we run, Asako-sama. Besides, if you grab the reins in a stranglehold like you have on Pippi's feathers, you'll have more problems than being led about."

"Uh. What Shiba-san might mean with that?" Saneyuki asked, momentarily letting go of Pippis neck feathers as he turned to Moriko. This unfortunately unbalanced him and with nothing to hold on, the young priest stumbled down with a yelp, thudding against the soft ground, his foot still dangling from the stirrup. "Ouch..." Moriko could see him grinning though, Saneyuki's smile telling her that only his dignity had suffered in the fall.

“Oh dear,” Moriko was down from Hana’s back and on her feet in a flash, the otori waiting stoically as she rushed to Saneyuki’s side. “You weren’t supposed to let go,” she teased, once she was certain he was okay, “but you’ll need to learn to balance without your hands, you need those to guide your mount.” She offered a hand, to help him to his feet.

"Well... I figured that out.." Saneyuki chuckled, shaking his head even as he stood up, dusting his robes. "No harm, done." he grinned, suddenly standing so very close to Moriko, his breath rustling her hair. Deep grey eyes sought out hers for a moment. "I am fine." The spell was broken, Saneyuki taking a step backwards as he eyed Pippi. "You think I should get on her?"

Even when Saneyuki stepped away, the effect of his presence remained, Moriko feeling like her heart had forgotten to beat. Inhaling shakily, “yes, definitely, if you feel ready, that’s the best thing you can do.” The girl grabbed Pippi’s lead, “give it a try.”

So Saneyuki mounted her, more confident this time as he pushed himself to the saddle. He was still bit awkward, though had easier time with the stirrups now that he had a better idea where to shove his legs. "Alright." Looking down at Moriko, Saneyuki let go of the saddle and grasped Pippi's feathers again, this time holding her more lightly. "Where do we go next?" he did sounds rather excited.

“All right, let’s see you keep your balance, hai?” Moriko stepped back, clucking her tongue and letting out the lead. Pippi had done this many times before, and knew exactly what was expected, starting off a steady walk. “When you feel ready, try letting go of her feathers and seeing if you can stay up.”

"Hai." he nodded, this time keeping his hold more light. "Uh.. hai." Saneyuki slowly let go of the feathers and not knowing where to put his arms, grabbed the large knob between his legs. "Uh, what next?" While the young priest was far from graceful, he was more or less sitting straight and more importantly not falling while doing so.

"You're still hanging on like you're worried a light breeze will topple you," Moriko observed playfully, "try holding your hands out to the sides and, if you can balance, we can try something more difficult."

"uh, right." Slowly and with great care Saneyuki did his best Kate Winslet impression, spreading his hands. The gentle winds stirred his hair, completing the mental image. "Uh.. this is bit wonky. But I think I get it." Despite what he said, the young man was bit wobbly on the saddle.

Moriko beamed, her smile radiant as she looked up at the priest. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite the dashing image she had invented, but she was bursting with pride and that was somehow better. "I knew you'd be fine, how do you feel?"

Saneyuki was too busy on not falling to notice how Moriko was smiling, frowning a little as he focused. "Well, to be honest, this is bit wobbly." he admitted. "Not as hard as I thought it'd be. I mean, I wouldn't Pippi to start running, but I think can manage this..." He was still swaying in the saddle a bit, but growing more confident moment by moment.

"Good," Moriko nodded firmly, leading them to where Hana was scratching idly at the dirt with a massive claw in a bored manner. She swung easily into the saddle, "all right, you can hold onto her feathers again, let's go around the ranch."

"Right." Saneyuki nodded with a stupid grin on his face. This time he kept his back straight as he reaches for the feathers close by the saddle. "Ready when you are."

The otori fell into a walk, and Moriko loosely tied Pippi’s lead to Hana’s reins, letting them rest on the pommel of her saddle and freeing her hands. She took a drink from her water bottle and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “what was it like growing up at the Shrine?”

"Serene. I mean it took a whike for me to realize Iwas different. All of my family can hear the whispers, so for a while I thought that everyone could." he replied, seemingly having good memories. "My parents died in a cave-in almost decade ago. The elders have been my parents since. Especially old Ken. He's the eldest of the elders. They are all equal though."

"There were quite a few other kids too. Dozen or so. We got all pretty well along too. "

“I’m so sorry,” Moriko sounded genuinely sad, concern in her eyes as she looked over to Saneyuki. She seemed to control Hana almost by thought (in actual fact, she was using her knees, but the outward effect was the same) as the passed along the road behind the stables, the boxes were open to allow the otori to come and go from the paddock as they pleased, and a few birds were napping away the midday heat inside.

“Sound travels uncomfortably well amongst the units,” so indicated to the residential structure, “some nights you’d think the walls between them were nothing more than paper.”