On my knees

Just when they were about to leave, a man walked in to address his Commander. Curiously, he followed her outside to see what Saggitarius was up to. The animal was chained up to a pole and clearly restless. It was, ironically, exactly how Mort had felt the past few weeks. There was another thing the both of them had in common. In Lexa’s proximity, the mountain lion calmed down. “He has been more aggressive since the attack,” She explained to him. “It was the first time he attacked without permission.” She continued. A piece of information that surprised him. He had thought she had sent the lion for Kaz on purpose. ”He is growing up”, He replied softly. It was clear the ‘wild’ side of the predator was becoming more prominent.

When the Commander unlocked the chains that were holding her cat, he sure hoped he wouldn’t mistakingly think he had a job to finish. Did he even smell the same like his brother? He had spent days in his villa, so he guessed so. It would be kind of unfortunate if he got attacked by the beast. ”Maybe he just needs his own territory? Aside from the Heart and the Watch, you know”, He suggested. A place further from here, with less people, so he could run free all he wanted without being constricted in his movements by humans.

When Lexa explained the issue with Saggitarius, images of his brother were flashing in front of his eyes. He had seen first-hand how bad the mountain lion had fucked him up. How his strong teeth had ripped open his neck. It was clear the animal had gone for the kill, not just to hurt him. Apparently it was not on her command. He didn’t really know how to feel about that. Deep down he was somewhat relieved. If she had done it on purpose, it would mean that she had wanted Kaz to suffer a horrible death. But knowing she hadn’t, that the mountain lion had done it on his own account, was scary. It meant that he might do it again, this time with a much more dire outcome.

“Sorry, I was going to show you around,” She said, pulling him out of his own thoughts. He had not replied to her story, but he decided it would be best not to. Curiously he listened to her suggestion. ”Dangerous?” He echoed. She knew what that could mean, right? Good thing she mentioned it before though. He could now prepare. If she suddenly got hurt, he would at least not get torn apart by blood lust. ”You are going to take me to a dangerous place”, He chuckled amused. Another slight flaw in her plan. Fair, he could run. He was pretty good at that. Knowing her though, she would stay and fight. When that happened.. Mort knew he wouldn’t leave her behind either.

A dangerous place. Something told him that it was a bad idea. On the other hand though, would she really propose it if she wasn’t confident they could handle whatever was thrown their way? If he was truly one of her people now, shouldn’t he learn to conquer his fear too? It wasn’t as if he would say no to her though. She could literally drag him all across the continent if she wanted to, he would follow her without questioning. Again, he wondered if he was going too fast. She had murdered his brother. She had forced him to do the unthinkable. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel affection towards her. Heart and mind fighting for control, or so it seemed.

“Doesn’t that sound fun?” She asked him, with a smile that radiated genuine joy. And he automatically mirrored it. ”How come I’m not surprised you associate danger with fun”, He said, with a little teasing smirk at the end. ”Lead the way then”, He continued. In the meantime, he kept a friendly expression on his face, nodding at anyone who looked his way. See, he was really trying, wasn’t he the ideal new addition to this town?

After Lexa had dealt with her cat, they walked over to a building in the far corner of the village. The stables. He could smell the horses before he saw them, which wasn’t that hard to be honest. Even a human would be able to find them if they really tried. The Commander took him inside the fence. Immediately, one of the horses came closer to greet her. The vampire tried to keep a neutral face, but again, his eyes gave away what he truly felt. If it was possible, they would turn into the heart_eyes emoji right now. He loved how she bonded with animals. It was one of the traits he valued in her personality.

Of course she asked him if he could ride. It was a pretty important detail. She added that he could ride with her, if he felt uncomfortable. It was an offer he would have accepted, if they had been alone. For now, he thought it would be better not to. He didn’t want people to gossip. After all no one here was familiar with him. No one knew who he was. It would draw attention if he just casually jumped on a horse with her, wouldn’t it? ”No, I actually used to ride. It’s been a while though”, He said with a smile. Honestly, he was looking forward to it. He had always enjoyed it when he was still human. So he wondered if it would still give him the same feeling, after all these years.

The chance that he would get thrown off and get a free lesson in flying, was pretty big. But at least no one would be able to accuse him for not trying. When Lexa told him which horses he could choose from, he gave her a smile and walked over to the stable doors. Of course he had no idea what to look at when picking one, but he decided it would be best if the horse kind of chose him. So he stood still by the first door, where a white horse was nibbling on some hay. She didn’t seem to have much interest in him. Fair. He wouldn’t be too thrilled to go out for a ride when he could have a nice dinner instead.

The next one appeared to be a bit happier about seeing him. The brown stallion had a gentle gaze in his eyes that made him pretty at ease right away. The horse nickered softly and shook his head. Slowly, the vampire extended his hand and let the beast sniff it, before opening the door and entering the stable. It didn’t take him too long to get him ready. The horse was probably used to being geared up. When he was done, he gently pulled the reigns and left the stable. When he got outside, he looked over at Lexa, to see if she was ready too.

The horse probably felt very pleased with himself. Tricking a vampire into riding him, it was not daily business. He would soon regret falling for the sneaky creature. At least he let him put on the gear with ease. Lucky, considering it took him a while to figure out how to put it on correctly. When all looked good, he couldn’t help but feel satisfied though. Edmund would be proud. The stallion followed him outside, where Lexa was already waiting. “I see,” She sounded, and he gave her a confused look. He decided to let it go though. Another thing he would regret later. But she didn’t stop him from mounting the horse, so he did it without second guessing.

With a little encouragement from his heels, the horse started following the other. Once they were outside the gates, he made him go a bit faster, so he caught up with Lexa. ”I heard you say Saggitarius was wounded?” He asked, some worry in his voice. Even though the mountain lion had attacked his brother, he could forgive him more easily. He was an animal, had a predatory instinct. Unlike him, however, he had no way to control it. So could he really blame him?

While listening to Lexa explain what had happened to Saggs, he took the time to get more comfortable in the saddle. In the beginning it was a bit hard to keep balance, but after a while he eased more into the pace of the horse. He relaxed his back a bit to sit more steadily. The mention of bears made him look around for a second. The realisation that a bear wouldn’t even be the biggest of their concern out here, soon settled in afterwards. ”Friends, huh?” He echoed her words, thinking about it for a short second. ”I’m glad you all got out alive”, He then continued. If only Saggitarius got hurt, they had been lucky. Or skilled enough to actually defend themselves. Maybe even both.

When she suggested to speed up a bit, he waited a second for her to take the lead again and then encouraged Scourge to go faster too. The beast took the chance right away, and picked up his pace quickly. He seemed to have this.. Uncontrollable enthusiasm. He tried, really hard, to stay on his back, but at a certain moment the horse bucked and jumped to the side. Mort wasn’t prepared for that movement at all. He decided it would be wiser to just let go and fall. When the ground was coming closer, he used his reflexes to kind of turn himself around in the air. Almost like a cat. Landing on both knees and sliding forward a few feet before he came to a stop. In the middle of the path, deep in the forest, without any sign of Scourge. Ggwp.