Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Summer Soiree: The Full Moon Ranch (CLOSED)

---

Separated from the city by several miles and spanning many acres, the Full Moon Ranch was beautiful this time of year. It had gained popularity as a vacation destination for city folk and people from the countryside alike. The ranch was located in central Oregon, located on a crossroads to the city with a significant number of tourists. This had even included non-humans, of whom weren't often welcome in the city or had to go into hiding.

Hearing that they needn't do so at the ranch was a major reason that brought Yanfeng to volunteer there. He didn't just love horses, which his old home of Shanghai kept him away from. He loved people of all backgrounds, even if they were merely constructs. There was even a rumor that the owner of the ranch, Lizzy Rufus, was a werewolf herself, but Yanfeng didn't pay it much mind. Even as hairy and bulky as she was. . .

Regardless, she made today a special day. Having posted it all over social media, the ranch was open for free riding lessons during the day of the Summer Solstice only. As such, Yanfeng got up early to start chores as he usually did, but had brought some extra things with him for the occasion. He'd brought his own bag of homemade ginger and carrot biscuit treats that people could give to the horses (wholly approved by Lizzy!), as well as peppermints for the occasional rare sweet. A great breath freshener, too!

With the sun slightly obscured for now by passing clouds, a moment of coolness passed over the ranch. The field is wide open with tall white fences, the stable sitting connected to it to the west of it. There was also big trees where the horses could seek shade, with one black gelding resting on his side temporarily as he's surrounded by two mares. There were plenty of trails leading off that also provided visitors bringing their own horses to ride.

The entrance to the ranch was south, but not far. One only needed to cross the dirt road framed by fencing holding off tall grass. All the way down to the stable entrance, where Yanfeng is brushing off an Appaloosa with a mostly white coat, speckled with only a few spots. He only stopped from his work to greet the newcomers with a grin.

"Welcome to Full Moon Ranch!" His voice is distinctly accented by his native pronunciations in Mandarin Chinese. "You here to ride today? Or just visiting the horses?"

---

- Your character could have heard of the event from social media or word of mouth from the nearby city!
- Time period is ambiguous, but set at modern day at the earliest and the near-future (21XX) at the latest. Sci-fi and fantasy themes are welcomed, but know that they won't be a focus for this plot.
- Non-humans ARE allowed! They can be explained as either supernatural individuals, peaceful visiting aliens, or robots. However, in this setting, humans are the majority and non-humans normally face prejudice. Yanfeng and the rest of the ranch are very friendly and do not mind though!
- Visitors may either bring their own horse to ride or borrow one from the stable by checking in with Yanfeng!


1.) Be excellent to each other, IC and OOC! If you start a fight IC, the ranch owner Lizzy will remove you from the ranch. OOC harassment will have the offending user be blocked from the thread and the plot will move forward without them.

2.) Please do not post as a character who would intrinsically scare the horses by default or just by the way they present themselves. This means;
- No giant war machines/enormous robots or soldiers/what have you
- No characters that frequently move very quickly or make loud noises suddenly
- No characters with menacing "auras"/"energies"/anything that has the power to make the horses nervous or disgruntled
As a rule of thumb; your character should be able to interact with the horses, whether riding or other activities, with peace and ease!

3.) I reserve the right to exclude any characters with behaviors that have the potential to make me and/or other players uncomfortable. This is a family-friendly thread!

4.) Have fun!!

Wakumi smiled as she was heading over the ranch. She had a long week and thought doing some horse riding would help her to relax. She recently moved over from Japan to America and settled in Oregon. She was also aware that that non-humans doesnt get the best treatment, so she felt lucky she was a Yokai with a human form, so she could easily blend into society. Well, as long as she isnt caught in the water...

Recently, many visited her small apothecary in the town, especially those who were in need of her self-made herbal medicines. Having this work was fun for Wakumi, but also tiresome. So the pharmacist closed her apothecary for today and decided to dive into recreational activities. Wearing her dark-blue Summer yukata with pink flower patterns(she liked to dress up into Japanese clothes outside of work), she was walking along the road and approached the ranch.

"Hello!" she greeted Yanfeng.

Yanfeng's smile is warm and radiant as he dipped his head. He ran a hand along where he had previously brushed the Appaloosa and pat her there before stepping over to greet Wakumi. It seemed the Appaloosa noticed her, too, but didn't really respond for the time being.

"It is good to meet you," he said calmly. "I am Yanfeng. This is Sparky."

He gestured over his shoulder to the white horse with spots. Sparky stood pretty where she was. There was even another horse from the herd who came over to the fence to investigate, ears upright and alert. This one was a horse with a Pinto coat. They were slightly shorter than the height Sparky stood at.

"You come to see the horse? They are nice." He cast a glance sideways. "Well, there is Jumper. I do not trust him of right now. But Sparky and Cider are good girl. You will see."

Judging from where his eyes met another horse, the Pinto horse must have been Cider.

"So!" Yanfeng offered a polite smile. "You want to come meet them? Maybe give treat? I make some biscuit myself."

Briefly, he glanced Wakumi over, but tried to make it quick to be polite. She wasn't exactly dressed for riding, especially given the improper footwear, so part of him wondered if she wasn't here for that.

"My pleasure to meet you, Yanfeng." Wakumi did a small bow. She then took a look at the horses. "I have come to do some riding. I am not strange to horses, but I wouldnt mind to refresh my riding skills."

As her gaze went around, then stopped at the Pinto horse, which was Cinder. She could sense the curiosity from the horse, with its ears being upright and all.

"I heard that Full Moon Ranch is opening their free riding lessons this summer!" said the first tone of the woman in her twenties, after sip her liquor.
"Wow, did you apply for that?" said the second tone, a man with his face covered with beard.
"I didn't. But I heard it was a good place if you fancy horses." the first woman beamed.

Out of curious, the bar hostess overheard her customers chit-chat about the free riding horses for this summer. She might have no experience on riding horses for all her life, but, she ever ride a Chocobo, they might feel the same though, on riding them. Tifa wiped the bar stool quickly then she reached her phone, looking for some information of the Full Moon Ranch on the internet. She bookmarked the address and, with a light heart, her hearts flutter. She wants to try riding horses, she always dreamed of them!

After she put the close sign on her bar and her customer left, she took some step to travel to the address that the network shown, was located in central Oregon so she went to the city in a full speed. It really wasn't that far from the Midgar's slum, after of course, she took some shortcut.

With the couple of hours passed by, she arrived at the entrance to the ranch. Is this the right place? Tifa was nearly confused, when she saw the one whom look like the owner greet another customer.

Yanfeng gave a smile with a closed mouth, though he eyed Wakumi's legs and feet for a moment. Not quite suited for riding, but he could make it work.

"Um, sure! We give you some riding boots to borrow, if you want it. And some riding breeches. But if you, uh, have some, it is okay."

She could have pants underneath, for all he knew. It didn't make sense to him that someone would come to horseback riding without being actually dressed to be on a horse's back. For both practicality and modesty's sake.

Instead of pressing on that for now as he awaited Wakumi's answer, he followed her gaze.

"Ah! You like Cider? I think she wondering of you. I think she can be good horse for you."

Cider was about the correct set of hands high for Wakumi to ride her, from what he could compare just from sight alone.

"Go on. Say 'hi' to her!"

Cider's head is above the fence that sat at Wakumi's shoulder height, her gaze eyeballing Wakumi in particular. Her ears are swiveled to take in Yanfeng's speech, as well as if Wakumi had anything to say. She licked her lips briefly, turning her head to get a better look. Meanwhile, the Appaloosa behind Yanfeng, Sparky, sighed. She was content - or perhaps miffed at the brushing having stopped.

In the middle of distant whinnying in the background, Yanfeng turned to Tifa, who seemed to look a bit lost. Welcoming her, he smiled.

"Hello! This is Full Moon Ranch." His accent is characterized by a language's pronunciation Tifa likely hasn't heard. "You here for our riding event?"

"Well, I would appriciate that." Wakumi said. "Can you show me a place where I can change?.

Actually, she brought the necessary clothes in her bad around her shoulder, she only needed riding boots. As for pants, she had then under her yukata. Also, being encouraged by Yanfeng, she approached Cider with a slower walk. Looking at the horse, she also slightly lowered herself the eye level of the animal.

"Hello there." she smiled at the horse.

“Oh!” Tifa was surprised, not sure because of the man’s accent nor her ability to find the place quickly. “So, I heard about this place… from my customers…” Tifa paused a little, “It was true then, you open this place for a free riding lessons?” the girl muttered, gulped on her words. Even though she was a bit stammered on her words but her eyes was glittering for some exciting experience with the horses.



“Can I… try to ride the horse too?” Tifa smiled gently.

Summer had rolled around on this strange humanoid planet, and what better way to spend it than by reconnecting with her rural heritage? While Earth wasn't even remotely comparable to Paylon, Artie'd actually grown quite fond of the strange planet during her and her crew's many visits to Cris' humble abode, mostly because of how quirky the tech was here. Their Comm.'s were incredibly expensive and easy to break, but obviously, she hadn't let the opportunity pass to get ahold of one of them herself. A smartphone, they called it, equipped with a SIM card and several applications that allowed her to roam around on Earth's digital network; that was where she'd found an ad for an interesting but awfully nostalgic summer activity. Horse riding. She hadn't ever seen horses in real life before, but she suspected they'd be similar to the khaakron-divers she used to look after back on Paylon. At any rate- Sprite was over at Burt's for a video game day, and Randle and Zero were practicing their strategy game skills, so how bad could it be to dip her toes into some detached pastoral fun for a change? So, here she was, in a borrowed Skylax tank-top and sturdy leather boots, ready to.. ride some horses, apparently. Standing at the entrance, she watched as a brown-haired lad help a tiny, kimono-donning woman interact with one of the 'horses'. From a distance, she could already tell that these creatures were quite somethin'- tall on their hooves, with bottle-shaped heads and a ridge of lucious mane. They were quite muscular and had all sorts of funny colors; somehow, they reminded her of what Therion could've looked like if they were skinny vegetarian ungulates. "Aye, pretty spot ye're tendin' to here," Artie greeted the presumed employee at the ranch as she stepped past the fenches. There was another younger lass standing by, about her height and dressed in awkwardly skimpy clothes. Riding a beast in a short skirt was going to invite disaster, but that wasn't her business. "A wouldn't mind havin' a ride on one of these, if tha's alright?" She was gonna wait for her turn, of course. These two city girls - although the teeny woman did give off an energy that was more mysthical than that of a local Earthener - deserved their free riding lessons as much as she would. As Artie gave some space to the other two customers, she looked at the surrounding property. Nicely kept, compared to her old homestead, with horses scattered around them. Would these be similar to those khaakron-divers she cherished so much when she was younger? They sure were a lot smaller, and looked much faster as well. Heh, at any rate, she would just have to get used to working with living things again, rather than robotic mounts..

Cider licked her lips again, as though expectant of something. She stood in place as Wakumi observed her. She observed Wakumi back with those deep brown eyes and horizontal pupils, as though gazing into her soul. . .

But perhaps not literally. She was your average horse, after all. She weaved a little bit close to Wakumi's face, either to sniff her or receive pats on her nose, before leaning back again.

Yanfeng nodded before gesturing past the large stable that Sparky stood in front of.

"Two minute walk. There is shop selling tack with bathroom. You can get boot there also. We will likely be in stable when you return."

There existed a trail that lead there from around the side of the barn, ensuring that Wakumi couldn't get lost on her way back and forth.

Yanfeng scratched his cheek, but still offered a small smile.

"Of course. The free-ness is this day only, but it is good for advertising, no?" He gestured openly to the stables. "We have horse that is good for your height. You see, horse height is done by 'hand.' Many horse here is American Quarter Horse. They easy for pleasure-riding. They go from fourteen to sixteen hand height. We have shorter one and bigger one. Appaloosa is like it, also, so they kept here as well."

Then, he dipped his head before gesturing to the Appaloosa behind him.

"Let me let Sparky back in pen. I then get you one of the riding horse from stable. They are use to new and old rider both." Just then, he looked her over. "Hmm, but. . . do you need riding breeches, also?"

Yanfeng didn't mind encountering inexperienced riders. He was just glad to finally encounter a rider who looked visibly ready to be on a horse's back. He almost uttered gratitude to some god under his breath, but withheld it.

"Oh, thank you! And of course." He offered with a smile. His voice, like Artie's, is distinctly accented, but doesn't seem to follow the language's grammatical rules at times. "Do you need a guide? You can ride by our side, if you want that. I will find horse for you, also. May radio owner to help with ride for a bit. Have you any question right now?"

As he's listening, he guided Sparky over to the nearby pen to open the gate and release her into the field. She was more than happy to follow suit!

"Okay, got it." Wakumi briefly glanced at Yanfeng, before looking at Cinder again. She slowly reached out to the horse, giving a gentle pant on the forehead. She felt that the animal was curious towards her, so a little bonding before the riding indeed couldnt hurt.

"Nice to meet you Cinder, my name is Wakumi." she said. The pharmacist wasnt sure if the horse could send her otherworldly nature. Nevertheless, she wanted to befriend Cinder and know her more, so there wont be any problems during the riding. She was so preoccupied towards the horse that she didnt even noticed the presence of the other guests.

No sign of being noticed by the kimino lass. Well, perhaps fine that way, because even if Artie'd come very willingly to a public activity in a more-or-less public area, she wasn't one for striking up conversation with people that didn't concern her. Mister Horse-handler, however, luckily had less trouble recognizing her presence, and gave her the same warm welcome she presumed the others had gotten. Lad knew his business. Art often wondered if she would've turned to doing similar work if she hadn't fled to Eyremos- anything to escape the humdrum of her homestead. "A used to handle stock meself, back on Paylon. Rode a few, too" she admitted, giving a short and mild chuckle before moving closer to the pens. "We don't have 'horses' there, though, so.. aye, A think it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of guidance here. Appreciate it." Art watched as the young man guided a magnificent horse called 'Sparky' into a nearby pen. As she lingered around and waited for the rest to suit up, her eyes sliding over the other types of horses. They had an air of nobleness about them, something smart behind the eyes that most cattle from back home didn't have. Maybe it was Artie's own lack of connection with organic things - excepting the few other living creatures she held dear -, or maybe she'd just never really been an animal person, but these horses, she liked. "So, which one ye'd recommend me to come up to? Any special.. ye know, rules about approachin' these fine beasties?" Last thing she needed now was a gut-shattering kick to the stomach, after all.

The young woman nodded on Yanfeng's explanation about American Quarter Horse, eventhough she wasn't quite sure about those horse kind since it was the first time either for her to see this kind of such muscular horses for ride. Appaloosa, that was quite... a rare name she ever heard. She wasn't even sure how to pronounce that or how to call them. The man offered her to wear riding breeches. "Oh, yes. I think. Seems my clothes would be unfit for a tough activity." Tifa nodded understandably.



She shifted her attention to the other woman as she waits for Yanfeng to bring her the riding breeches. This woman had such a funny accent. "Hello." she said, mustered up some courage to greet Artie, although Tifa was quite taken aback from Wakumi. "I'm also a beginner, on riding horses. Can I have some guide too?" Tifa questioned to Yanfeng, after Artie mentioned about any special rules.

It was just when Wakumi noticed the other females. She felt awkward, how rude was she didnt greet them.

"I will be away just a moment.." she told the horse, then went to Tifa and Artie. "Hello there. Umm... sorry for not noticing you earlier, thing is I was so preoccupied with the horse... Nice to meet you, my name is Wakumi. Did you also come to the free ridings at the ranch?"

Cider eyed Wakumi as she was spoken to, sighing through her nostrils. She didn't seem to mind her departure. She simply stood where she was as she watched her walk away, as though diligent in her coming back.

Meanwhile, Yanfeng gave instructions to Tifa.

"Shop is two minute walk from here. There are bathroom and breeches to buy at it. Just take path around stables."

The breeches at the shop would have some in the usual price range, but there were some much cheaper ones for less frequent riding as well.

To both her and Artie, he proceeded to explain.

"Of course. We have Western saddle this day, so I show you how mount Western style. It take some effort, but I know you all can do it." He offered an encouraging thumbs-up, a gesture of which he learned from a friend. "So! What you want to do is not make sudden movement or loud noise. Go up to horse from side, too. They cannot see from behind them. Their eye position is that they see good from side and front, but not back. They may kick or be nervous. . . oh, also!"

He addressed Wakumi as well.

"My name is Yanfeng, by the way. Nice to meet you all! I call owner Lizzy soon, so you get meet her, also."

"Aye, clear as stonebrew, A got ye," Artie chuckled, relieved that these horses luckily didn't come with any special instructions. The herbivores back home had the same issue with being approached from behind, so Art figured that if she more or less kept the know-how from her youth handy, she'd survive this. "Which horse'd ye recommend, Yanfeng?" Way it sounded to her, Cider and Sparky had already been assigned a rider, so her mount to-be remained a mystery. "Fine names, by the way, the two of ye. A'm Artie Irix, prime to meet ye." That little bit of Konian slang sounded very out-of-place with her thick Paylonian - or, the surprisingly similar accent they know on Earth, Scottish - tongue, but she enjoyed stealing words from her friends and lover. Made her borrow some of their social confidence too, Sprite's especially.

(Emily, Chiara & Rosalba)

"Attie! Granma look, there's Attie!" a shrill, happy juvenile voice called out, excited enough to stand out even in the crowd and pletora of voices and noise.

The next moment, a little humanoid grey vixen sprang toward Yanfeng and Artie. She was wearing checkered shirt, a plated skirt decorated with roses and lace-up sandels, and her fluffy tail wagged enthusiasticallty as she waved, dragging along with her free hand a young-looking woman with pale skin that had an almost bluish undertone, long blue-black hair, and striking blue eyes.

At distance, the most puzzling thing was that a woman her age could be the grandmother of a kid about 3-4 years old. But as they approached Artie and Yanfeng, some other details began to stand out. The woman's hands were gloved, but the part of feet visible from the hem of one of her low shoes was a blend of metallic parts and wires. And while that might have passed for a prostethic, a patch of skin was missing from her cheek, exposing facial controls that were likewise mechanical.

This incredibly human-looking woman was... a robot. And that wasn't even the most surprising thing, because her other arm was draped around a tiny newborn in a cute dotted onesie. The babe too was vulpine, her muzzle white with chocolate and black markings around her eyes and two black markings on her muzzle that resembled an adorable little moustache; one of her eyes was brown, the other deep-red like the older grey girl's, who could only be her older sister.

"Slow, Chiara!", the robot woman chuckled gently. "We don't want to scare the horses, do we?"

"Nuuuu!" The little girl, Chiara, shook her head. "No scaring the ponies!" Then she turned back to Artie, her adorable red eyes peering up at her. "Have you made friends with ponies yet, Attie?" Next, she looked up at Yanfeng and smiled. "Hi! You the ponies dad?"

"Po-pony!" the little baby girl chimed from her grandmother's arms.

Emily couldn't refrain from chuckling, before she smiled apologetically at Artie and Yanfeng. "I'm so sorry, Chiara has been super excited about this event and couldn't wait to get here. I'm her grandmother, Emily", she introduced herself to Yanfeng, and smiled at Artie. "Hello, Art! it's a small world, huh?"

Yanfeng looked over Artie politely before humming. His hands come to cross over his chest as he considered it, eyes flicking off to the side.

"You know, I know of good steed for you," he declared. "He is Appaloosa named Zeus. Bold personality, but I trust him! He is eight-year gelding of fifteen hand high. He is good for adult who are new to horse riding, but not new to being around large animal. He has old soul, I think Lizzy say. I am agreement!"

He flashed a grin that didn't subside when he laid eyes upon a whole family coming up into the ranch. He waved to them before reaching to the walkie-talkie at his side to radio the owner. However, he stopped when approached by the little vulpine munchkin - of whom asked if he was the father of the 'ponies.' He responded with a pleasant expression.

"Why, yes," he replied. "I am the ponies' dad. Well, maybe like uncle, as I am not owner. . . but I still work here. I am the dad if I say so."

Cider, the American Quarter Horse with the Pinto coat, has migrated from her spot behind the nearby fence towards the new arrivals, silently eyeballing them from there.

Yanfeng's gaze traveled towards the next person speaking to him, which was Emily. Initially, he blinked at hearing she was their grandmother, but it made complete sense. She wasn't even human. That said, he'd expected - perhaps in his own internalized 'robophobia' - that she was their nanny-bot or something. However, he wasn't one to be impolite just because someone wasn't. . . necessarily alive. He'd encountered plenty of others who were technically 'dead' but not outright aggressive. Mostly.

"Nice to meet you, Emily," he replied, dipping his head. "I am Yanfeng. I volunteer here. Will it be okay if I call the owner quickly to help me out? It has become very popular and I think she will like to meet you!"

Briefly, he glanced between Artie and the family, surprised to find they knew each other. It also made sense, though. It wasn't like they couldn't have just lived in the same neighborhood. Or come from the same planet. He wasn't sure which it was.

"Ah, sure." Tifa nodded when Yanfeng said she could get the horse breeches. Just at the moment Tifa was about to going, the woman in her nicely looking kimono introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Wakumi. My name is Tifa." she smiled genuinely. "Yes I heard about the free riding lessons so I quickly come up here to try riding these horses. They look nice too, anyway. But... oh, pardon me, I gotta go to bathroom first to change." She grinned after bid her a moment to leave as she went to the shop to buy the equipment she probably needs.

Boots, horse breeches, gloves, hats (just in case it will be stinging hot). This would be more than enough for here, even though the lesson was free but the equipment was not. She took a deeply sigh that she had to spent her savings but this would be her unforgettable memories so she could earn more money later, crazily enough. She headed towards the bathroom to have a quick change and when she went back to the ranch, she noticed the little girl Chiara being excited to ride ponies. "Be careful, sweety." she said while passing by. She went back to Yanfeng, fully equipped. "Which one was my horse again, sorry?"

Yanfeng regarded Tifa with an approving nod upon her return. At her question, he thought, one hand holding the arm with the hand that held the radio. He squinted at Tifa, scrutinizing her get-up for a moment.

"Looking good. We will go to horse in second, but I think I know good horse we can use." He shifted his weight between his feet. "Picasso is good gelding. He is also Appaloosa. I think you enjoy him. Very beautiful horse. Quirky, but good-mannered."

Comfortably, he smiled as he put his hands to his hips.

"Before we go to stables, can you tell me what brings you here? What do you like most about the horse?"