Everything But Human

Chapter eight: Riding

After we finished practicing on the fields for about an hour, we headed to the racing track, where I instantly discovered that we had two major problems.

One, one of the judges was none other than the commander himself, and Two, only the captain was allowed to race for the team

I knew right then and there that there was no way we were gonna win this race. Especially since Aiden was also in it, I knew that slimy cheat would stop at nothing to win. As I dismounted from Haruki, everyone was staring and whispering at us. Apparently that crazy story that the instructor told us was true. Haruki must've noticed my unease because he snorted, and rubbed his snout against my chest. I laughed as I pet his head gently.

"Don't worry Haruki, I'm ok" I said

Suddenly, I felt arms wrap around my waist as Jason whispered in my ear.

"You got this cherry bomb"

I blushed hard and smiled as he winked and walked over to where our teammates were already sitting, cheering me on.

"You got this AJ!" May yelled

"Hell yeah!" Neo exclaimed

"You show em' Haru!" Owen shouted

I laughed and shook my head as I got back on Haruki and moved to the starting line. We stood in line next to Aiden and his horse. Both horses snorted angrily at each other and I pet Haruki gently to calm him down as Aiden glared at me.

"Seems like Haruki doesn't like you either" I said smirking

"Just because you got a special horse doesn't mean shit, your still a loser, always will be" Aiden snapped back

"Maybe, but at least I'm not an ass on a daily basis" I said winking at him

Aiden was about to open his mouth but he got cut off as the commander came to the podium.

"All riders, get ready, the gate drops in three!" He yelled into the microphone

"Come on we got this Haruki" I said

"Two!"

Haruki snorted and dragged his feet on the ground, I held the reins tightly, and stared straight ahead.

"One!"

The gate dropped and Haruki shot off before any of the other horses had a chance. I heard my team cheer as we rode towards the first target.

"Looks like Arlyn and Haruki are in the lead!" The announcer said

I put the reins over my head as I reached for my bow, angling my arms and hips just like Jason showed me. Aiden was right behind us but I ignored him and completely focused on the target. I pulled back on the arrow and just before we passed it, I let go and shot a bullseye earning us one point on the scoreboard.

"Yes! We got one Haruki!" I cheered

Haruki neighed proudly as he continued to run down the track. We hit the next bullseyes without a problem, and I laughed as I saw that Aiden was fuming at his horse. After we finished the archery section, we were in first place and moved on to the obstacle course.

"We got this Haruki, just like we practiced before" I said as he snorted in agreement

Haruki ran and jumped over all the hurdles with ease, he went and ducked underneath the bigger hurdles, and finally, he zig-zaged in and out of the barrels. His hooves clomped on the ground gracefully, as he trotted around the course. He made it look like we had been practicing for years instead of hours. The crowd cheered loudly as me and Haruki went to the final stage of the race, talent.

Now this was a supposed to be a surprise round, well- at least it was a surprise to me. But I started to panic because we didn't even know that it was going to be a part of the race. Haruki on the other hand, remained calm and I was confused as hell, but this little horse had something up his sleeves, er- hooves.

We went and lined up behind the makeshift stage that they had set up outside for the talent show. Along with the other Captain's and horses.
Of course Aiden was already there and he looked at me with a bold smirk on his face.

"Your going down Captain Aryln" he laughed mockingly

Haruki snorted angrily at him as I glared at him.

"We'll see about that Captain Snake" I said back

After a few minutes of the other contests going including Aiden it was our turn. I couldn't really see much because we were behind the stage, but I knew that the crowd really loved Aiden and his horse, and I knew for a damn fact that my team and Jason were out there. I breathed in and out a few times and so did Haruki as they called us up to the stage.

"It's ok, we got this boy, let's show em what we can do" I said petting his Maine and he snorted

We trotted up to the stage and the curtain lifted up. Jason and my team were sitting in the front along with the commander and the other judges. I looked at the crowd and then looked around the stage before spotting a box at the end of it. I dismounted from Haruki, walked over, and opened the box. There were some beanbags, balls, sticks, and water balloons.

I took out a few water balloons and started juggling them. Then I threw one at Haruki and he caught it on his nose, balancing it delicately. The crowed watched in awe as I tossed him more balloons and we both juggled them together. Then I looked at Haruki and nodded and he snorted back at me. And then without even thinking, I threw my balloons in the air, jumped up, flipped, landed, and stood on top of Haruki, who jumped up as I caught all the balloons. The crowd went absolutely wild and I grinned widely and bowed, still standing on top of Haruki. Then, I caught the eye of the one person who's attention ment most to me. Jason. He stared back at me and winked as he mouthed the words "Good job" at me. I blushed and waved at him.

Then we trotted off the stage, and towards the middle of the field for the winning announcements.