Horse Lovers, gather. on Library

Jade Owen

November 08, 2013 4:02 PM

Horse Lovers, gather. by Jade Owen

It was considerably further into the term than Jade would have liked to hold her first club meeting of the year, but she'd had to sort out lots of details, first. It would have been lame to call a meeting without being able to clarify their trip, so she had arranged a couple of meetings with Professor K-J first, and now she had all the details she needed.

As usual, the Horse Lovers' Club meeting was advertised on posters a week or so beforehand, as the group had no regular time or place, and just occurred whenever Jade remembered to hold a meeting. Today it was held on a Sunday before lunch, in the library. The posters had encouraged new members to come along, including first years, although Jade didn't really care whether anyone new came along or not; she liked the group that had come together over the past couple of years, and she had some very exciting news to tell all of them.

"Hey, come in, gather round," she said, speaking in a lower volume than usual because of their location. Jade couldn't often be found in the library - it was far too quiet and studious a place for the Pecari - but sometimes it had its merits. For example, today she needed somewhere people could write, and that was more easily accomplished on desks. Jade had taken over one of the seating areas, pulling in some extra chairs and returning the glare of any student who tried to grace her with a disapproving look. She had laid out the club scrapbook, a compilation of horse-related stories, articles and pictures that the group had put together during their meetings, and she also had a stack of papers and a sign-up sheet in front of her.

The sixth year greeted people as they arrived, and, when she thought they might have a full group, she offered an excited smile. "Firstly, welcome back to most of you, and welcome to anyone who hasn't been to a club meeting before. I'm Jade, and this is the Horse Lovers' Club, where we share our appreciation of horses through pictures, photographs, stories, debates, and what have you," she gave the briefest of introductions. "I'm going to start today with some wonderful news. I have been talking to Headmistress K-J, and we're allowed to go on a field trip this year to a flying horse ranch!" Again, she did her best to lower her voice (in volume; it was an unusually high pitch due to her excitement), and would shush anyone who celebrated the announcement too loudly. Personally, Jade would forgive any exuberance, considering they had worked hard all last year to raise funds for the trip, by holding a stall at the fair, selling raffle tickets, and assorted other, smaller efforts. If the group wanted to celebrate then Jade was happy to let them, but then she had chosen the library as her venue, and so she grudgingly accepted that she had to abide by the rules of her location.

"Quiet while I tell you about it," she said authoritatively. "Firstly, only second years and older are allowed on the trip." She thought this was fair, as the first years would not have assisted in the fundraising, and would maybe have another opportunity to go on a similar trip in the future, if someone continued running the group after Jade had graduated. "Secondly, everyone planning on coming must have written permission from a parent or guardian," Jade said, and held up the permission slip that comprised the pile of papers on the desk before her. "Thirdly, we have to get a member of staff to chaperon us on the trip." It was unclear to Jade at this time whether K-J would be coming along, too, or if she had to stay put to look in on Dexter, but either way the Headmistress had asked for another member of staff, so Jade would convince someone. "I'm sure that last item won't be a problem," she said confidently.

"The trip will be three days and two nights to the Flying Horse Ranch in Colorado, in March next year, where we'll have some lesson, do some practical animal maintenance, and get to see some of the rarest breeds." If this didn't sound like the best trip ever then the members before her were in the wrong club. "If you want to come, you need to take one of these," she held up a permission form again, "which has all the details on it, and get your signed slips back to me before midterm. I also want everyone who plans on coming to sign up on this list, so I know who to expect." Jade held up the sign-up sheet, with her on details written as an example:

Jade Owen, sixth year, Pecari

She passed the sheet and a quill to her left, and hoped that it would make its way around the whole group before the end of the session. In the meantime, she had a club to run. "Right, I'm sure you've all got lots of new information to offer after the long summer break" (not to mention the few weeks since their return to school). "Who wants to go first?"

(OOC: Details arranged with the Headmistress' author. If your character intends to come on the trip, please sign up so I have a record. Any questions, get in touch in Chatzy or on the OOC board).

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Aria Yale

November 26, 2013 9:04 PM

I am gathering. by Aria Yale

Aria felt that she had a better connection to the Hostess of the Horse Lover’s Club this term than she had in any previous term thanks to having worked with her so closely during the Midsummer Event last year. Aria had seen the school list for the concert this year and had seen Jade’s name beneath hers, which only made her feel all the better about all of it. When the notice of the meeting for the club went up, there was no doubt in Aria’s mind that she would be going to it. Aria loved all creatures and spent much of her life avoiding bringing harm to them at the risk of her grades. But as they didn’t have a club for all creatures big or small at the school, the Horse Club was her next best option. The horses back home ran free on their lands. They were beautiful creatures, but not domesticated in any way. She thought that one of the farmers had a companionship with one of the horses when it had become sick and he had nursed it back to health, but that was the extent of it. They weren’t dangerous in any way. They were raised about humans enough to not be scared of them, but Aria didn’t think anyone would think about riding them.

Aria wandered over to where Jade was located with a pleasant smile upon her face. Her curls were still a lovely white blonde in color thanks to the charms while her eyes were lined in black. She wore ripped jeans and a t-shirt that had a name of a band she had never heard of. Aria loved her community’s music, so she had no need to venture out to listen to other types of music, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the designs of the shirts. Taking a seat, Aria waited patiently for the session to begin.

When Jade mentioned that their fundraising from last year finally paid off as the Headmistress had confirmed that they were allowed to take their trip to the Flying Horse Ranch. This was excellent news! Aria grinned and clapped quietly along with everyone else. She was excited about going but reserved herself due to their surroundings. She would celebrate in private later. Aria had never seen flying horses in person other than the ones the pulled the wagons. Aria was accustomed to hard labor as she often helped around the community, but she could see some of the more… pampered girls having a real issue with the animal maintenance.

Aria reached out and grabbed one of the permission slips while Jade continued to talk and folded it into her bag. Her parents would not have any issues with the trip. In fact, her father helped her with some of her crafts last year that she had thought of selling at their booth but decided against it. She had better models this time around now that she had been practicing her ceramic skills with her dad.

When the sheet came around to her, Aria signed her name, year and house just as Jade had done before giving it to the next person. “My father took some lovely photographs of the wild horses that run on our lands. I helped develop them.” Aria chimed, pulling the photos from her bag. “They aren’t professional or anything, but they are beautiful when they run.” The pictures moved as the horses ran across the fields. Aria handed the photos to the first person who reached for them.

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