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Scotland has become colder since returning; the rain hasn’t let up and the gloomy atmosphere that surrounds the school only seem to get worse the longer the culprit goes uncaught. Jade had decided to throw herself into her training and lessons, both her peers and teachers told her that’s not the right idea but she refused to listen.
Sometimes, she can be quite stubborn.
Jade shivers – tightening her hold on the reins – when she steps out of the barn. Thunder let out a huff after taking in a breath of the cold air. Overhead, dark clouds block out the sun and a nasty chill settle into her bones. She needs to keep moving because if she stops for even a moment, then her thoughts will consume her and destroy what’s left of the barriers that she had managed to put up. It’s easier to focus on the next task than her own problems.
“You don’t look well there, Princess.”
“And what are you doing here, Spike?” The sudden snap in her voice caused her to cringe while Spike looks unaffected by it, mostly amuse in Jade’s opinion. “Sorry…”
Spike put his hands up; “hey, don’t worry about it. We’re all tense right now because of what’s been happening but remember that we’re still a team despite that.”
“I’m surprise to hear you say that,” Jade said before moving past the punk. She has an hour before she needs to get to the library, which means she needs to stop wasting so much time with chatting. “Anyways, I need to get started.”
“Hang on.” Spike easily moves in front of Jade while gesturing to the barn. “I’ll ride with you.”
While Spike tack his horse up, Jade heads towards the ring and starts warming up which turns into riding the rail when Spike joins her. They ride along in silence with the only thing being Jade accidently running into Spike’s horse with her own. She gives an apology every time but everyone has their limits.
“Alright, I don’t think Chester wants to play bumper horses, Princess.” Spike takes the lead and guides the horses to the center of the ring. “So, what’s going on? I know there’s more than what you are telling us.”
Jade blinks a few times to refocus; noting the slight headache creeping up on her. “You already know everything that’s been happening, Spike.” A sigh escape from her after snapping at Spike again. “Sorry, I just want to know who has it out for me, you know? The whole tempering with my stall. Releasing my horse. What else will they do?”
“Frankly, that’s understandable.” Spike shifts his weight in his saddle while taking a glance at the barns; Ginger and Kiew are leading their horses out. “But who would have it out for you? You’ve only been accepted a few months back, though you have become our star rider quite quickly.”
“I don’t know.” Jade drops the reins to put her face into her hands. “It could be because I’m new and how fast I managed to climb the ranks but that seems too petty for everything that’s been happening.”
“Hey, we’ll figure this out.”
“Hey!” Ginger waves; easily getting everyone’s attention. “What are we talking about?”
Kiew narrows her eyes at Jade but didn’t say anything.
“Everything that Princess her has been through,” Spike said while giving a nod towards Jade. “Anyways, what’s going on with you two?”
Jade tunes out the conversation and focus on the task at hand; what had caused all this?
…
The cold winds nip at Jade’s cheeks while making her way to the indoor riding ring. A few of her students have decided to do stuff inside today…well, save for one. Flora had been throwing herself into training since defeating the B-Team and her meeting with Esteban (even just thinking of his name makes her stomach twist), and her vow of switching teams.
Sometimes, she can be so stubborn.
Opening the door, Jade leads her horse into the arena where Flora is blankly doing a simple dressage routine that Patrick had set up for training. However, she’s not paying attention to a single thing that she’s doing. It reminds Jade when she had done the same exact thing; burning herself so badly that they almost didn’t win the next competition.
She pats Lightening on the neck before mounting the horse and heads towards the middle of the ring where Flora had just finished her routine. Thunder shakes his head, clearly bored with the training. Jade moves Lightening next to Thunder and waits for a moment for Flora to acknowledge her.
“Wha? Jade” Flora jumps, causing Thunder to bump into Lightening by accident. “What are you doing here?”
“I figure we can ride and talk.” Jade is known for being stubborn by everyone but even she admits that this whole sequence of events has gotten out of hand. Also, Spike tends to give some good advice when he wants to. “Come on.”
Jade guides Flora to the rail but she can tell that her student isn’t fully in the moment. It’s clear that her thoughts had started to spiral. “You know, I went through the same thing.” That startles her student out of her thoughts. “When I was a student at the academy, someone had it out for me.”
“Really, you?”
Jade chuckles at the surprise look on Flora’s face.
“Yes, I was much like you once. A star rider as my friends used to call me.” Jade had won every competition they were put into and helped pull their school into a league of its own, until she had left to do something else but that’s a different story for another time. “However, someone was out to get me; they did many nasty things that me and my horse until we finally managed to capture the culprit.”
“What did they do?” Flora question before tacking on: “the culprit, I mean.”
Jade had an answer ready when Flora suddenly stops; watching something in the stands beside them. Making their way in is the rest of her students – plus a student from the French A-Team. Each one giving their own greeting to Jade but the only one to say anything to Flora was Carroll.
She had rush down and lean against the railing with a grin; “Do you mind waiting while I grab my horse?”
“Uh, I don’t mind.”
Caroll nods exactly before running off with Miguel in tow.
“Anyways,” Flora looks back towards Jade, “you mentioned that they did stuff to you?”
Jade notice that the remaining students – Samuel and Aurelia – had moved closer to listen while Daniela pretends not to be listening but Jade has a full attention. It’s a surprise that her students had managed to convince Daniela to come hang out with them, she doubts that she would get an answer but she’ll give it a shoot later.
“Well, the big one was they had drugged my horse so we got eliminated from Nationals.” That ears a few ‘that’s not right’ and gasps. “A few others were framing me for drugging a horse and releasing my horse from his stall. There’s were probably more that I can’t remember at the moment.” Her first year at the academy had been one challenge after another but it feels worth it by the end.
“Okay but who done it?” Samuel asks.
“Yeah!” Aurelie is literally on the edge of her seat with each word. “You can’t leave us hanging like that.”
“If I remember correctly, you guys left me hanging on her stories,” Flora said; slipping back into a teasing stance but quickly stops when she met with twin blank looks from Samuel and Aurelie.
Jade takes a moment to look at Daniela; she has been pretending not to be interested in the conversation. “Well, it’s still hard to believe but it was Esteban–” She jumps at the protests coming from Flora and Daniela, so she waits until they are done before continuing. “The reason was because my horse – the one that I’ve had saved from a fire – was given to me instead of him.”
“So, this guy was petty and decided to do real damage just because he didn’t get what he wants?” Samuel question; laying everything out in simple terms for everyone.
“That sounds similar to my own story,” Miguel said while following Caroll towards the stands. “As you would know, Flora.”
Flora looks conflicted but ends up nodding in agreement; “but what I don’t understand is why would be upset about that?”
“Because Thunder–” Thunder the Second’s ears flick towards her at the mention of his name “–was a well-bred horse that was meant to be given to Esteban, who believes that a horse like that could have taken him to new heights.”
“But that’s not how that works,” mumbles Flora.
“Wait, so Esteban thought by getting you kicked out then he would get Thunder?” clarified Aurelie. “But what if someone else comes along and is given the horse instead? Would he keep going until they give him the horse?”
“Who knows,” Jade said.
Just like had Spike had promised all those years ago, they did figure it out. However, Jade haven’t touched that part of her life since things were wrapped up. Looking around at her students, she realizes that things are always going to be out of her control and the way that she deals with it is the only thing that matters anymore. Her eyes land on Flora and notice that her student is stuck in the whirl wind of her thoughts again.
“Well, here you all are.” Spike causal walks in, causing many to jump in surprise. “How about instead of standing around, we head out on the trails?”
Samuel and Aurelie runs out of the arena without being asked twice while Flora works on convincing Daniela to join them. It only takes a bit of pesting for Daniela to agree and follows Aurelie, who had hung back to see if Daniela was joining them or not. She reminds Jade of Kiew a little bit. Spike chuckles and heads out with them to get a horse as well.
Soon, it was just Flora and Jade in the arena.
“I don’t get you sometimes,” Flora admits as she brings Thunder to Lightening’s side. “Though, many people don’t get me either.”
“That’s an understatement.” Jade chuckles at the look that Flora gives her. “However, I just want the best for you.”
It’s what Birdy had told her when she was still a student. He always wanted the best for them and that he pushes them to be the best that they could be…no matter how stubborn any of them were being.
Flora sighs; “I know.”
And that was it.
Who knows what’s going to happen after this competition however all Jade wants is for Flora to decide what is right for her and not for anyone else.