Centaur: A Chaotic Tail Part 3

By the time Peggy had the fire going and had actually started some water boiling, Felix came back with a couple of rabbits and what looked like a large handful of some sort of tuber. They cooked in relative silence, merely asking or giving cooking advice to each other. Felix also took out some bread to add to the meal, and Peggy had some sweets that her master's wife had given her, so the meal was actually quite pleasant and filling. Felix had started making a bed for himself on the ground on the other side of the fire by the time Peggy finished eating. She really did eat a lot, but she never felt really full, she wondered sometimes if she had two stomachs. That certainly would explain a lot actually. She yawned and threw the debris in the fire and watched it burn.

"Do you need bedding or anything like that?" Felix was in his bedroll now and looking at her curiously. The sun had set, so the only light they had was from the fire, but Peggy could still make out his features. He was still smiling slightly, even though he did look a bit tired.

She yawned and stretched, "No . . . no bedding really. What would I use anyway? I've got a blanket to wrap around my upper part and the grass is soft enough." As she said this she got out her blanket and snuggled into it.

Felix watched her, "Do you ever sleep standing up, like a horse?"

Peggy laughed at that, "I tried once . . . I can lock my legs in my sleep like my mother, but I can't lock anything from my waist up, so if I fall asleep standing it's VERY uncomfortable on my back and neck." She demonstrated by flopping her human half down as if sleeping without any support, "See? I just kind of hang there and it's very uncomfortable." She righted herself and leaned against the close tree and sighed. "Normally I sleep with my mother and rest my head on her back. Hopefully this tree will work all right as a substitute." She started trying to get comfortable.

"You really didn't want to leave, did you?" Felix's smile disappeared as he watched her trying to find a comfortable position.

Peggy sighed mournfully, "No .  . . I didn't want to leave. I was happy with most of what was going on. I had a home, my mother was always there for me, as was my master. I knew how to make things that the villagers liked." She looked down, "Until they found out what I was, everything was fine. I should never have revealed myself to Thomas . . . no matter what he said." She sighed again and adjusted her lean a bit more.

Felix watched her for a bit longer, then got up and picked up his pack and took it over to her, "Here . . . this might help a bit, it's not a tall as a horse, but it might help with you lying down a bit rather than propping yourself up against that tree."

Peggy looked at him in surprise and stammered out a thank you as she adjusted the pack and made herself finally comfortable with a smile, "Yes . . . that is much better."

Felix returned to his own sleeping area with a smile and settled into his sleep roll, "Good. Get some sleep. We've got a long road ahead of us tomorrow."

Peggy found herself finally drifting off to the sound of the crackling fire as it died down and the soft snores of Felix, who was obviously capable of falling asleep at the drop of a hat. Her last thought as sleep overtook her was how thankful she felt for having Felix around.

Morning came too soon for Peggy. She'd slept fitfully, waking up to every strange noise. The fog brightened as the sun came up behind it, lighting everything with a soft white glow. It was rather pretty, but also uncomfortably damp and a bit chilly. Peggy pulled her blanket around her tightly, wishing she'd worn something warmer under it as she tried to poke the fire back to some sort of life.

Felix stirred at the noise and grumbled a bit as he snuggled deeper into his sleep roll for warmth. Peggy chuckled a bit, then stood up and shivered, trying to rid herself of the morning dew that had gathered on her fur. She started to get her stuff packed up, thinking she'd just drape her damp blanket over her back until the sun came out to dry it. She tossed a few more pieces of wood on the fire and started making breakfast. Looking at her supplies, she was not going to have a lot of food much longer at the rate she was eating them. She frowned. That was another thing she never thought about, how much food she actually ate. She started feeling guilty at how much her master and his wife had had to feed her. She DID give them the money from her leather working sales though, so it wasn't like she was a complete freeloader now . . . but as a child she must have been very difficult to feed.

The large pot of oatmeal she was cooking finally managed to lure Felix out of his sleeproll, "Mmmmmmm . . . that smells good." He poked his head out. "You're going to spoil me, I'm not used to warm breakfast. I'm usually much to lazy to do anything of the sort during my travels."

Peggy chuckled, "I have to eat a lot if I'm going to be travelling a lot. This should at least make my stomach less growly at me." She smiled.

Felix pondered this statement for a while, "Can't you eat grass and leaves and stuff like horses?"

Peggy made a face, "Have you ever eaten grass and leaves? I may have a horse body, but I have human tastebuds and teeth. Grass tastes nasty and my teeth really aren't designed for chewing it properly." She looked at the oatmeal, "I do eat a lot of grains and bread and vegetables though . . . more than meat . . . but I can't just graze, unfortunately." She sighed. "We're going to have to get food soon at this rate."

Felix started climbing out of his sleep roll, "No worries. There's a town up ahead we can get resupplied at. Do you have any trade items to barter with?"

Peggy nodded, "I brought a lot of leather item's I've made . . . small tooled pieces that were easy to pack. I don't have any money though . . ."

Felix shook his head, "It's actually better not to be carrying money, that way there's nothing to tempt thieves. If they won't accept the leather barter, there are other ways to get food. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He smiled and started getting his stuff together, never straying far from the fire and looking rather cold. "Ocean fog . . . not my favorite thing in the world. It will be nice when we get farther and the fog isn't so common."

Peggy looked at him in surprise, "There are places that don't get morning fog?" This was certainly news to her, and she wasn't sure if she liked the idea.

Felix chuckled, "Nope . . . no waking up all damp and surrounded by white. It's actually very nice not having fog while you're travelling. Makes waking up in the morning a bit easier in my mind. I hate waking up damp and cold."

She had to admit that he had a point, but it was hard to imagine times where there would be no morning fog. What would the sunrise look like? Was it like a sunset, but with the sun coming up peeking over the ocean? She tried to imagine a sunset backwards and over the ocean rather than over the mountains and found the idea enchanting.

Felix started helping himself to some oatmeal, "Well . . . you've certainly made enough here for at least five human males, are you going to be able to eat all that?" He looked skeptical, "It's not something that can be carried you know."

Peggy chuckled, "Oh  . . . I'll eat it . . . don't worry." She took out a spoon and started eating directly out of her cooking pot once she was sure that Felix had had his fill of it. She finished what was left with a contented sigh, Felix already finishing up packing and getting the fire spread out and put out properly. She quickly started cleaning up the pots and such and packing up her own things.

Felix watched her carefully. She was an interesting travel companion, no question. He was learning all kinds of things about how centaurs were from her, things that the herd wouldn't have even brought up. He knew that centaurs ate a lot, which was probably one of the reasons they pillaged quite a bit. They weren't farmers and they obviously needed a lot of grain products if Peggy was any indication of their appetites, and she was a small female! He was beginning to wonder if there could be some sort of trade agreement started between the farmers and the centaurs so that the pillaging could stop. It was worth further investigation, no doubt. He filed that thought away as he finished putting out the fire. "Ready to go?" He looked over at her, seeing that she was completely outfitted again. Those saddlebags certainly seemed useful, he wondered how much she'd be capable of carrying. She looked about as strong as a standard horse in the horse area, but not so much in the human part. She had some muscle tone, but not as much as he'd seen in the male centaurs. Of course, the herd made a priority to be incredibly strong so they could carry away things with both horse backs AND arms. Peggy just had a normal active female physique. A little bustier than most . . . but still. He grinned.

"I'm ready. Let's get out to the road and get going!" She smiled and let him lead the way out so he could help her get out. A branch snapped back and smacked her in the butt, making her jump. "I hope the next camping area is easier to get to . . ."

Felix chuckled, "Well . . . that all depends on our travel speed. I'll shoot for a place that's a little easier to get to." He thought about it and wondered if they'd be able to travel fast enough to get to the place he was thinking of. They could only travel as fast as the slowest of them, and he was a fairly fast walker. They could probably make it, but it would take a lot of hard walking on his part.

Peggy sighed with relief when they got out onto the road. "Well . . . shall we get going then?" She was looking forward to a good gallop to get some more miles between herself and her former home. She then stopped as it finally occurred to her that Felix couldn't gallop or keep up with her. She frowned, she didn't want to have to travel slowly  . . . she wanted to get to the city as fast as possible! Well, that was a bit of a disadvantage to having a travelling companion, wasn't it? She looked over at Felix, weighing her options.

Felix started walking on at a good human pace down the road. "Yes! We have quite a bit of travelling to do to get to the next good camping place I know of that will accommodate you." He walked past her and started down the road, making Peggy trot to catch up with him as he caught her off guard with his speed.

She trotted next to him, still thinking. After a few moments of silence she spoke, "Felix . . . can you ride?"

He turned toward her, his brown eyes full of confusion, "Ride? Ride what?"

Peggy rolled her eyes, "A horse, you idiot. Do you know how to ride a horse?"

"Why? We don't have a h . . ." finally what she was talking about sunk in. "You want to give me a ride?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well . . . yes. I really need to stretch my legs and walking at your pace is going to slow down our travelling. Seems to me if you got up on my back it might be faster." She blushed slightly; she'd never offered a ride to anyone. She hoped she was strong enough to carry him.

Felix looked thoughtful, "I've never ridden actually. I mean, I've watched it done and could probably make a good imitation of it. If you're willing to put up with me up on your back I'm willing to take you up on your offer." He did look a bit nervous at the idea though.

Peggy chuckled. "I'll take it easy on you, promise, but this will go faster. Hopefully you aren't too heavy for me with that pack on your back." She looked at it thoughtfully. Well, even if it was heavy she could still carry him for a little while and that would STILL make them move faster. Four legs went faster than two even at a normal walk. "Come on, let's go to the side of the road and find a place you can climb up and get on my back . . . just to test my strength and your riding ability."

Felix just looked pensive for a while, then slowly walked toward the rocks opposite the ocean, looking for a promising place to climb up that was close enough to the road that Peggy could be next to it. It took a while to find the right place, but finally Felix scrambled up on a rock and looked at Peggy nervously.

Peggy gamely walked over to the rock and positioned herself next to him, "Just sit between the saddlebags. I don't have a saddle, but that should be all right. The blanket should help make you more comfortable as well." She knew ideally she should have something more than a blanket for both their comfort, at least that's what her mother always said, that it was more comfortable having the human in a saddle than on her bare back for long periods of time. Probably more comfortable for the human as well, but they'd have to make due for the time being.

Felix shuffled on the rock a bit and then carefully climbed onto Peggy's back. She wasn't the biggest creature, looking more on the small side for a horse, so he was a little concerned that he'd be too heavy for her with his pack in addition to her saddlebags. He sat down slowly, he'd had one bad experience with a horse. The horse in question decided that he'd rather NOT have him on his back the minute he sat down and had bucked and bolted, leaving him in the dust with a splitting headache and sore ass. He knew that Peggy wasn't going to do that to him, but he was still feeling a bit nervous nonetheless.

Peggy felt him lower himself slowly onto her back, and braced for the weight. He was a bit heavy with that pack, but it wasn't unbearable. She could tell she'd be able to manage fine.  Not at a full gallop all day, but she'd be able to carry him for quite a while without getting too tired. She looked back at him and smiled, "Comfortable?"

Felix shifted a bit, "I guess. Just don't make any sudden moves, I'm afraid I don't know how to stay on without falling off."

"You hold on with your legs, but you can hold on to me too, if you think that would help?"

"Hold onto you?" Felix looked at her. "You mean around your waist?" This was getting rather awkward now.

"Of course! You don't have any reigns to hang onto, nor do you have a saddle that will keep you on me, you've got to be able to hold onto something." She chuckled as if she thought he was being silly. "Just put your arms around me and see if it will work."

Felix did as she suggested, his arms wrapping around the filly's mid section, or at least what he though was her midsection.

"A little lower, you've got your hands on my boobs." She blushed as she looked at him.

Felix cleared his throat in embarrassment, "Sorry." He lowered his hands slowly. She had a nice waist, if she'd been fully human he'd probably be hitting on her. This really was feeling incredibly awkward for him suddenly. He gripped around her waist and tried not to think of the human part of her body pressing against him. Tried. He wasn't succeeding very well.

Peggy shifted a bit, getting used to the feel of having someone straddling her back. It wasn't unpleasant, just a bit odd and heavy. She looked back at him, "Ready to get going?" She smiled, wondering why he looked so nervous, "I promise, I'm not going to let you fall off or anything. I'll make sure not to make any sudden moves."

"Right. No sudden moves. Let's get going, Lady Centaur. No reason to stay here and waste anymore time." He forced out a grin which Peggy immediately recognized as not being genuine.

She nodded and started off, taking it slow. She didn't even go into a proper trot, she knew how bouncy that could be and didn't want him to just bounce off. She just did a nice quick walk, faster than what she would have been doing if she'd been pacing herself to his speed. She felt his hands grip around her waist a little harder. He was nervous, she could tell that. She kept going, wondering what was making him so nervous.

Felix rode, his teeth gritted. He had to admit, this WAS faster than walking himself. He had to keep convincing himself that Peggy was sentient and wasn't going to just kick him off irrationally. Old fears die hard apparently. He forced himself to do some relaxation breathing to get himself calmed down.

Peggy had gone quite a while and could tell that Felix was slowly loosing the death grip on her and starting to relax. "Do you want to see if we can go a bit faster?" She smiled back at him.

Felix's hands gripped at her waist hard again, "Faster? Uhm . . . well . . . I guess . . ."

Peggy didn't wait for him to finish the statement, she was ready to do some real running now that she'd gotten used to the weight of him on her back. She had a good feel for how he was balanced back there and would be able to tell immediately if he started falling and adjust accordingly. She started to speed up, hearing his gasp and feeling him grip her even tighter. She didn't have the heard to mention that his arms had crept up and were now tucked firmly under her breasts; maybe it was more secure that way in the long run after all. In a few moments she'd gotten up to a full gallop and was grinning from the exhilaration.

Felix hung on for dear life. Dear gods. This was the fastest he could remember going, even the carriages that he'd taken once in a great while never went this fast. He gripped onto her tightly when she started bouncing a bit, fearful of being bounced off, but just as soon as it had started the bouncing stopped and he felt more like he was being rocked. He tried to grip onto her using his legs like she'd suggested, and realized that his legs were probably going to be sorer than if they'd actually walked. But . . . they were going to get where they needed to go in a lot less time. He felt the wind in his hair and peeked around to see how Peggy was doing. The look on her face was one of pure enjoyment. She obviously liked going fast. "Don't overdo it! I don't want to wear you out!"

"Don't worry! I'll stop before I get tired!" She smiled back briefly then her eyes went back to the road. "Just enjoy yourself!"

Enjoy himself. Right. When everything in his mind was on how much damage he would take if he fell off her back and onto the road at this speed? Like a melon dropped onto pavement from a long distance, he'd look like one big Felix shaped red splat on the road. He shuddered and tried to distract himself by trying to determine where they were. It was difficult at this speed since a lot of his landmarks were ones that required close inspection. Little marks on the road left by other travelers, small rocks or hints of old trails leading off the road, none of which could be seen from the back of a galloping horse, or galloping centaur for that matter.

Peggy was enjoying herself completely. She always felt better while galloping, no matter what her mood was it always improved with speed. She grinned, nearly forgetting she had a passenger until he gripped at her tightly again. She reached up and patted his arm comfortingly. Surely he was enjoying this? How could he not? It was so wonderful to feel the air going by, making her hair blow back and her tail look like a flag. She gave a small buck before she realized it probably wasn't the best idea, and felt the grip on her tighten as Felix made a little noise that sounded like a mouse squeak. "Sorry." She looked back at him sheepishly, "I'm in a good mood and I forgot I have a tendency to want to jump a bit when I'm feeling really good."

Felix's face was white, "Please . . . just don't forget again?" Dear gods, was he going to survive this trip? What made him want to do this in the first place? Story. Yes . . . that was it . . . this was going to be a story that no one could beat when he told it at the Fair on Mulberry street in the city. He'd be rewarded amazingly, maybe even win a prize. He grinned at the thought as it wiped all his anxiety away.

They galloped along for quite a while. The fog burned off and the ocean was glittering off to their left as they sped down the road. Finally Peggy started to slow down, her breath was coming in gasps and she actually was starting to look a bit tired. She worked her way back down to a walk, reaching down for her canteen and taking small sips from it as she walked briskly.

Felix finally was finding it easier to breathe. "Peggy? Why don't I get off for a while so you can take it easy?" He started to slide off her back carefully, trying not to dislodge her saddlebags as he decended.

She nodded, "Sounds fine, I don't think I'm going to want to go fast for a while now. I'm good with walking."

Felix slid down and felt his feet hit the road. He groaned as he felt muscles protesting the exertion that they had never been subjected to before. He clutched at Peggy's side for support, forcing her to stop as he gained his balance.

"Are you all right?" Her face was full of concern as she watched him try to stand properly and walk.

Felix groaned, "Yeah . . .  I'll be all right. Just not used to riding. My muscles are built for walking, not gripping and being spread out like that for so long."

"I'm sorry. I guess we shouldn't do that again." She looked mournful and apologetic.

Felix chuckled, "I'll get used to it. It makes sense to travel this way, at least for a while. Besides, the more I do it the faster my muscles will get used to it." He winked at her. "Don't concern yourself with my belly aching Lady Centaur, I'll live. Especially if we can get a good lunch soon."

Peggy nodded. Lunch sounded like a wonderful idea. "Any ideas where we can get something to eat?"

Felix put an arm around one of her saddlebags to steady himself and looked around to get his bearings. The cliffs had been getting gradually smaller as they'd travelled, they were getting to the flat rolling coastal hills now, which were far easier for travel, especially by someone with hooves. The ocean was also closer to the road now, with just a wide beach between the water and the road. He tried to get his bearings, then spotted a distinctive twisted tree just up the road to the right. "There. That's where we'll have lunch!" He grinned, amazed at the time they'd made. He'd thought they'd be coming through here closer to suppertime. The riding had been a good idea after all, despite his limp.

Peggy was just looking around an enjoying the look of the sand. She carefully stepped off the road and let her hoof sink into the softness with a charmed smile. There were no beaches near the village she was from, just rocky coast dropping off into the water. "This seems . . . very nice . . . I've never seen a coast so flat." She smiled. "The sand seems so soft!"

Felix chuckled, "You can run on the beach in a bit, after we eat. Come on, lunch is waiting." He put his arm over her back to lead her toward the tree. "You'll like this place."

"Will I be able to eat there?" She'd heard of pubs and inns, and it occurred to her that it wouldn't be the easiest thing for her to be inside a place that was crowded with people and furniture, with doors that were designed specifically for humans.

Felix smiled, "Don't worry . . . this place has areas to eat outside and the food is fantastic. I've got some credits with them as well, so we should be fine."

Peggy felt both excited and nervous, she'd never eaten anywhere that you had to pay for it. She was excited to taste new foods, but nervous about the possibility of seeing lots of strangers. Her hooves fell silently on the roadbed as she walked carefully beside Felix, "Are you feeling all right? You're still walking a little odd."

"I was sitting in an unaccustomed position for a long time. It's going to take me a while to get used to it." He gave a sheepish look. "I'll be all right."

They grew closer to the tree and Peggy spotted a building under the branches of the tree . . . in fact the building looked like it had been built around the tree and was using the branches as protection. "That's the place?" Even to her untrained eye it looked suspiciously deserted and decrepit.

"Aye. It doesn't look like much but they make a fantastic mushroom omlette." Felix led the way, smiling confidently.