lighting the pyre

[Dante]

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EXECUTIONER'S APPRENTICE

[/color]
workout with
TOBIAS LANCASTER[/b]
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[/center]

So now they'd gone from before dawn to sunset. Fair enough. The sky was alight with reds and oranges and streaks of pink, sort of like a fire. Below the heavens was a racetrack, and as far as Tobias Lancaster was concerned, the nearest thing to heaven he was (hopefully) going to see in a while. Ever calculating, App stood beneath the jockey, ears pricked forwards as he watched Skylark walk about on his prosthetic legs, pacing as he waited for the track to be ready. Some stable was just finishing their workout, a longer one.

App's workout, however, was to be short; a meager six furlongs on the turf track. A distance and surface that worked well for App, who was doing very well to begin with. Tobias was confident. App had placed in both his races, and the first of which was a mix between both maiden and G5 racers. To place second in his first ever start among G5's was a good start for the colt, and his second run had been just a good. Practice was to make perfect now.

"Okay!" Skylark called when he saw the former run was over. "Get him loaded, we're good to go!" At that note, Tobias gave App a little squeeze and off they went towards the gate, dark mane tasselled in the wind, his unusual "bloody" shoulder garnering looks from a few loitering grooms. That was one way to locate him on the racetrack. Look for the grey with the mini jockey and the red shoulder. App's motions felt good and he picked up a nice, brisk, working walk. Tobias barely had to steer him to the gate - the colt knew where to go. Brain in this sport was just as important as sheer speed, and App had gotten a good dosage of the smarts. Only yesterday had the colt let himself out of his stall, and proceeded to liberate the entire cellblock of two year olds. That had been a fun mess to round up...

Executioner's Apprentice waited in the gate, ears still forwards, at the ready. Tobias could feel his anticipation, and felt it build within him as well. There was only going to be a few moments before they'd be thundering down the track, racing ghosts, and running as though the red glow cast across the turf was a fire, and their only home was to outrun it. A sprint this short was mostly a game of speed an tactics, less so staying power. By the time the need for staying power kicked in, the race was over. This was all acceleration - gasoline on a fire, and how best to funnel that flame into obliterating the competition. Morbid analogies, perhaps, but he did live in a refurbished prison. As though cued to be at the end of his thought, the gates sprung open and the bell rang, and they were off!

The colt leapt from the gate and thundered down the trak. Everything save for App's hooves were drowned from Tobias' ears, and the young man liked it no other way. He could feel App's motions, strong and foremost reliable, under him. He was merely along for the ride; the colt ran like he wasn't even there, save for the reign and stick, which was the point of being so feather light and sometimes putting a feather down his throat in the first place. App's tail streamed out behind him, black as though it had been touched by the fire that was in the sky, turned to ash, as with his legs and mane, escaping the fire, or perhaps, we was the spark that lit it, the reason said fire burned. It was quite the sight to see.

The duo ran at the inside and tore up the turf as they went, faster and faster. He'd been working hard and training every chance they got at the track, and they let him have plenty of toys in the meantime to keep his mind sharp. In Tobias' opinion, App would do well with a gameboy and Need For Speed, but then again, he had hooves. Not only did this make video games hard, but it made him fast as it was. There was no need for speed games when the colt below him was pure speed, living speed, not just metal and gas.

They crossed the marker and slowed down, waiting for Skylark to come join them once more on the track to give them the rundown of their times. Tobias felt they'd done well, but the times would tell for sure. "I like it!" Skylark called from where he sat on the track. "I haven't done all the paperwork, but the times look just grand. You haven't seen a screw, have you?" He asked, and Tobias looked Skylark over in surprise. The amputee had had one of the prosthetics on the ground, presumably fallen off.

"You might have a screw loose," Tobias laughed. "But App sure doesn't!"

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WORKOUT STATS[/color][/b]
words| 840
workout surface| Turf
distance| 6 furlongs
horse| Executioner's Apprentice
jockey| Tobias Lancaster