What were we doing again?, Currently "training": Squishy

[Jazmine]

{Okay, okay…} thought Jaz. {Now that you know how to lie down.}
{I’d like to thank my friends, my family, especially dear old mum...}
{Shush, you! Now the fun part. Hold still.}

With all the agility of an agitated squirrel, she scrambled up onto his back.
{Oof! Ow… hey, be careful up there, will you?}
“I’m trying, I’m trying!” she said, so distracted that she forgot to just think instead of talk. “I’ve never ridden anything before, especially not anything as big as you are!” She shifted around, trying to find a good place to sit. She settled on a place about six inches behind his shoulder blades. “Is this comfortable?”
{For a very loose definition of ‘comfortable’…}
“Ouch. I think it was a good idea to practice this before just jumping on. But hold on, we’re not done yet.” He hadn’t even stood up yet, so it was easy for her to slide off, go retrieve Squishy, who’d been busily devouring crickets, and then climb back up again.

{What have you got HIM here for?} Kamal said cautiously.
“Training, my dear Kamal!” She set the slug cheerfully on Kamal’s head. Kamal was noticeably less cheerful about the whole thing, and Squishy didn’t seem too happy about the new arrangement either.
"Don't complain, Squishy. Stay. Staaaay." She let go and he looked around, contemplating escape, but considering how high he was off the ground, he seemed to decide it was a better idea just to stay put.

(Carry Rider 1
Ride 1 Stay1)

[Jazmine]

Squishy looked down off of Kamal’s head, clearly uncertain about his new perch. But he seemed even more uncertain about the drop down. Kamal might have been laying down, but he was STILL fairly tall.
"Stay. Staaaay," Jaz reassured him, patting his head.

“Alright, so, once someone gets on your back, then you stand up,” Jaz instructed.
{Someone? Not just you?}
“Squishy is someone too.”
{I see,} said Kamal dryly. He went to stand up, and Jaz nearly rolled off of his back.
“GAH.”
{Are you alright?} Kamal asked with alarm, quickly lying back down.
“I’m fine, I just… wasn’t holding on tight enough, I guess.” She climbed back to her sitting spot and this time, when Kamal began standing up, held on really tight.
{Ouch,} he informed her.
“Sorry! But if you sit up before standing, I’m just going to fall off. Can you kind of… evenly ease your way up?”

At this point, Squishy was freaking out and trying to crawl off of Kamal's head. And one could hardly blame him, really. He began crawling for escape, sweet, sweet escape, but Jaz picked him up again and put him squarely back on Kamal's head. "Stay. STAY." And when he didn't try to crawl away again, she paused to dig out one of the (many) dried crickets she had in her bag.

Kamal sighed, but eased his legs into a crouching position, and then stood up from there. It was a little bit rocky, but both Jaz and Squishy were able to stay on alright.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep practicing. But first, onwards!”

(Carry Rider 2
Ride 2 Stay 2)

[Jazmine]

Kamal started walking forwards at a regular pace, but was stopped soon afterwards by Jaz lunging forwards to catch Squishy, who’d nearly fallen off of his head.
“Gah!” she exclaimed, catching herself (barely) by clinging desperately around Kamal’s neck. “Oof… Ow, um… lemme kinda… get myself back up here…” she mumbled. She carefully placed Squishy back on Kamal’s head, then slid back to her spot, all the while urging him to "stay." He looked at her like she was insane, but it seemed to do the trick, and he stayed put.

Squishy was looking quite unnerved. He was as unhappy about the set-up as Kamal was, it seemed. For him, though, it looked like it was more the possibility of falling off than any real displeasure at being on Kamal’s head. At least, that’s what Jaz hoped. She reminded him a few times to stay, and rewarded him with a cricket every so often when he didn't move.

“Alright, let’s keep going.” Kamal continued walking at a slow pace. It felt different, having someone on his back. No one had ever come up with the bright idea of sitting on top of him before… maybe because he was a bit small for his species. Jaz wasn’t even particularly heavy, nor was Squishy. They were just…. Awkward. One more thing for him to consider with each step.

As they went, however, Jaz and Squishy both began getting into the swing of things. Well, Jaz more so. Squishy was still slightly nervous and off-balance, but he seemed to be getting the hang of it. Of course, it helped that Kamal was just walking. They’d learn the faster speeds as Kamal did, though. They’d be fine. Hopefully.

Every few minutes that Squishy stayed on Kamal's head without much fuss, Jaz gave him another cricket. He might get chubby, but at least he'd be able to balance on Kamal's head.

(Carry Rider 3
Ride 3 Stay 3)

[Jazmine]

Kamal shifted slightly, trying to get used to the feeling of Jaz on his back. Squishy being on his head was much easier to grow accustomed to. One’s head didn’t really move that much in a normal gait. But he kept worrying that Jaz would fall off his back and break something. She was horribly small and all that, and-

{Kamal, you know I can hear you worrying, right?}
[Oh. Right.}
{Don’t worry so much about it. I’m already starting to get the balance of things, and we’ll have plenty of practice after we get you used to someone sitting on your back.}
{That shouldn’t take too long…}
He was starting to get used to it. Jaz weighed almost nothing; it was no effort to carry her. But he had to watch his gait to make sure she didn’t fall, or accidentally dig a leg into his spleen, or something along those lines.

Squishy began sliming backwards, only to have Jaz pick him up and put him firmly back on Kamal's head. Much to Kamal's annoyance, his head was getting kind of slimy. But as they continued on, Squishy stayed put for a little longer, and was rewarded with even more crickets. At least she wouldn't have to feed him when she got home.

(Carry Rider 4
Ride 4 Stay 4)

[Jazmine]

Squishy wasn’t overly happy with his situation, but he was starting to get used to it. Faster than Jaz was, anyway, since Kamal’s head stayed fairly level while he walked. Kamal continued walking around in rather elaborate figure eights, carefully placing each foot.

{Kamal, just try walking like you normally would. I’m not going to fall off, I promise.}
That was easy for her to say. {Not as easy as it is for you to hear. Now walk!} And so he did. The most obvious thing was that it was a bit faster, since he wasn’t pausing to contemplate the position of his paw. Jaz shifted a little bit, but for the most part, got into the steady back and forth of his body. It was actually easier, now that he was walking the way he normally would. The same could be said for Kamal; now that he had figured out walking with someone on your back was only SO different from just, well, walking, it seemed a great deal easier.

By this point, Squishy seemed to have grown accustomed to sitting on Kamal's head. And if he did try to move, a reminder of "stay" from Jaz was enough to make him think of delicious, delicious crickets and stay put. Just in case, Jaz would keep him on for the rest of training, so he could get better at balancing. Just because he WANTED to stay, didn't mean he'd be able to if they didn't practice.

(Carry Rider 5
Ride 5 Stay 5)

[Jazmine]

{Okay, I think you’ve got the hang out it,} Jaz announced.
{What about you?} insisted Kamal.
{Don’t worry about me; we’ll practice turns next. I’ll still be able to practice. Squishy as well.}

Squishy, however, looked like the least-concerned party at the moment. He had finally gotten used to sitting on Kamal’s head, and was looking like he might fall asleep up there.

{Next is turning. I don’t want to have to bother saying anything for that, because it would be a pain.}
{I’d probably be able to pick up where you wanted me to go from your brain, you know.}
{I want to have a backup plan in case we lose connection or something.}
{You’re worried about the-}
{ANYWAY,} Jaz interrupted. {When I tap you with my left foot, turn left. Sound good?}
{Sounds simple,} Kamal agreed.

(Turn left/right 1
Ride 6)

[Jazmine]

Jaz bonked Kamal with her left leg. {Hey, OW,} he protested, and then began turning to the left while walking. Then he paused. {How long do you want me to keep turning for?}
{Oh,} said Jaz, {Good point. Okay, I’ll keep pushing with my foot until I want you to go straight, sound good?}
{Oh joy.}
Jaz did just that, pushing in with her foot. Kamal let out another complaint, and then began turning to the left.

Squishy shifted uncomfortably, his buggy little eyes looking around. Things were changing, and they kept going to the left. Why did they keep going to the left? Kamal tilted his head when turning, so it was making Squishy a little nervous… One more thing to adjust to.

(Turn left/right 2
Ride 7)

[Jazmine]

{Seriously, though, not so hard,} complained Kamal. {If we do that for too long, I’ll start bruising.}
{Alright, sorry.} She pushed in with her left leg, much softer. Kamal kept walking. Jaz pushed in slightly harder.
{Oh, oops, sorry,} Kamal said, and began turning.
Squishy was starting to look dizzy.

To be honest, Jaz was getting a little dizzy. She let off pushing, and Kamal went straight. It wasn’t a particularly hard concept to grasp, really.

(Turn left/right 3
Ride 8)

[Jazmine]

Then she pushed in with her right foot. There was a moment’s pause, then Kamal turned to the right. The only one who seemed to be having trouble with this was Squishy, who was looking rather unhappy about the twisting and turning. But it was probably just his own version of seasickness.

Jaz stopped pushing in with her right foot, and Kamal went straight. They seemed to have the basic approach down, but Kamal had a few complaints.
{We need to get how hard you’re going to push down. If you get freaked out and jam a leg into my ribs, that’s not cohesive with turning quickly.}
{Point. Let’s experiment a little bit,} Jaz agreed. She’d be the first one to admit that the training sessions she had were as much for her as for her furry friends.

Someone looking on would probably turn right around and leave, as all they would see would be a midget with pink hair and a giant wolfcat spinning around in circles in any empty field. The two of them adjusted the pressure of leg-pushing until they were both satisfied.

(Turn left/right 4
Ride 9)

[Jazmine]

{Too hard.}
{Too light, I can’t feel it.}
{Gods, OUCH.}
{No, I might not notice that…}

The fine tweaking of how-hard-do-you-kick-a-Wolthox continued on to what Jaz felt was the point of ridiculousness. But once they found the perfect touch, they even spent the next ten or fifteen minutes perfecting it. At this point, even Squishy was used to spinning around in circles. Jaz, however, was beginning to get dizzy.

She’d much rather be getting to the FUN parts, like running really quickly and exploring Kamal’s various mad skills. She’d seen him soar down from the roof like he had a hang-glider attached to him just the other day. She wanted to figure out how he’d done it, and whether or not they could figure out how to do it regularly. But just when Jaz thought it would NEVER end, Kamal announced that she finally had the art of telling him when to turn down pat, and they could (finally) move on with their lives.

(Turn left/right 5
Ride 10)

[Jazmine]

“Alright then, moving on with our lives,” Jaz said out loud, and with a noticeable sigh of relief. “Fun part! Going faster. Well, and slower, technically.”
{….Are you going to fall off?}
“Possibly!” Jaz said with honest cheerfulness. “So here’s the game plan! I wanna work with just leg commands as well as a few other things… just in case.”
{And what if you can’t use your legs?} Kamal said, no doubt a sarcastic jab at her habit of planning for everything… or trying to.
“Then my legs will be broken and we’ll have worse things to worry about. So. Faster first, when I tap you twice with both legs, like this,” she did so, “you speed up, alright? Let’s try it a few times… my training will be staying on while we’re doing this.”
{Joy.}

(Speed up/slow down 1
Ride 11, the fun part!)

[Jazmine]

“Okay, let’s do this!” Jaz tapped her feet twice on Kamal’s sides, and he, somewhat reluctantly, began moving forward slightly faster. Jaz frowned, and tapped twice again. He sped up slightly again. With a roll of her eyes, she really jammed her heels into his sides and he took off with a bit of a leap, mentally cursing her at the same time.

It was a fairly easy lope, as Jaz was about to learn by comparison, but that didn’t stop both Jaz and Squishy from nearly falling off. The two regained their balance shakily as Kamal nervously kept up a steady speed. Squishy seemed to be literally clinging to his head, and Jaz was wobbling around quite a bit as she tried to find a good compromise between holding on with her arms and holding on with her legs. It was all rather nerve wracking, at least, it seemed, for Squishy and Kamal. Despite that, Squishy seemed to get the hang of it before Jaz did.

(Speed up/slow down 2
Ride 12)

[Jazmine]

Jaz managed to get the hang of it after a moment of running around. She just had to rock her hips just so at this particular speed, and she’d stay balanced. And if all else failed, Kamal had a great deal of fur for her to cling on to for dear life.

She then decided it would be a good idea to speed things up more, so she tapped her feet twice on Kamal’s sides again. He at first declined to go any faster for fear she’d go careening off of his back and land on her face, but Jaz eventually won out through a great deal of kicking. Kamal sped up once again. This time, the landscape when careening by them in a bit of a blur. It was too hard to stay balanced with just her legs, thanks to all the bouncing, so Jaz was forced to grip onto Kamal’s mane as well.

Squishy seemed extremely unhappy about this set-up. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to stay on Kamal’s head. He managed to cling on through his naturally squishy and sticky nature, but Kamal was going to have fun washing his head afterwards.

(Speed up/slow down 3
Ride 13)

[Jazmine]

Jaz frowned and picked Squishy up off of Kamal’s head. “Well, I guess here is as good as any other place. Kamal, will you be able to get us back home after we’re done?”
{Shouldn’t be a problem.}
“Alright. Down.” He laid down, and Jaz slid off of his back, Squishy in tow. She set the large slug down on the ground. Squishy seemed extremely relieved to be on the nice, still ground. He was in for a nasty surprise, actually, thinking about it.
“Okay, so, I saw you float the other day.”
{I wasn’t floating,} Kamal explained. {It was just the wind. It came up from below, so I just sort of rode it downwards.}
“Okay, first off, wind doesn’t normally come from below, and second off, YOU’RE THE SIZE OF A HORSE. How was the wind that strong? You’ve got to have some super-magic ability.”
{Well… yes. But-}
“So let’s learn how to use it on command!”
{…Fine,} Kamal said with a mental sigh.

(Wind’s Blessing 1)

[Jazmine]

{So, how does it work, exactly?} Jaz asked curiously. {For Squishy, I just read books on him, but I can’t find anything on you or anything like you in the library in town.}
{I’m not sure, exactly. I just think about it, and it happens. It’s sort of like I think about what I need the wind to do, and it does it for me.}
{…That is SO WICKED SWEET.}
{I’ve never really tried to do it on purpose before,} Kamal said doubtfully.
{Well, give it a try. Squishy and I will stay here, and you run around and see if you can get it to work.}
Jaz could feel the skepticism in Kamal’s mind, but he was willing to give it a shot. He started off running slowly, then moved into a steady lope around them in a large circle. Jaz watched, listening to his mind as much as looking with her eyes.

He closed his eyes, and it happened.

(Wind’s Blessing 2)