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Description

Previously: butterfly, fly away | Next: sit back or die

i WIN FOR EARLIEST ENTRY muAHAH

Rider: Zachary De Luca
Horse: FDS Best Kept Secret

Representing as an INDIVIDUAL

jump in the c A AA ccc

Tick. Tick. Tick

It felt different this time. Much more different.

And in some ways, it felt worse.

His daughter was here at his side this time. By some miracle he had won her over, or perhaps the temptation of travels had been enough to entice her to fake love him again. It was something those teenagers seemed to do quite well these days. Yet, she appeared genuinely happy. Either way he was thankful to have her around, she was wise beyond her age and offered quite the words of encouragement.

Nevertheless, the feeling lingered with him like a bad taste in his mouth. Maybe it was only the dreadful weather. A mere drizzle now, however he had been out warming up long enough that he was already soaked. The dark clouds loomed overhead, the storm threatening and impending. It was only the beginning. It was going to get far worse from here.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“- It’s nothing we haven’t experienced with our Kentucky springs.” The voice of his daughter broke him from his thoughts. Had she been talking to him for a while now?

“Yes, but usually we ride inside then. It’s fine though, we’ll take it quite a bit slower than we did in Tokyo. That didn’t work too well in our favor… and given the arena footing now, I need to give her time to think.” Zachary shifted as he glanced warily at one of the ring stewards. He was lucky that Primrose wasn’t scared of umbrellas. She was rather collected given the circumstances, much more so than she had been in Japan. It was him who was scared witless.

There was pressure now, the pressure to perform better than he had in Tokyo. Would Adam ever let him hear the end of it if he did poorly? How he had gone out wearing FDS colors and made a mockery of them? Zach shuddered again. There was the feeling. Curse his own anxiety, it was like this every competition, but somehow so much more painful this time.

Tick. Tick. Tick

It was a dizziness. It felt like a loss of control, his vision becoming darker as the tunnel closed. The numbness started in his hands again, in his feet and upwards. Deep breath, you’re fine. That’s what he repeated over and over. The wind howled, and he ducked his head to avoid the rain, the storm threatening once more. Overhead, the HCL flag flapped defiantly against the current. Oh god, what if he passed out?

“Hey.” Emily looked up at him, placing her hand on his leg. A strand of her dark wavy hair clung to the side of her face in a comedic way. “I’m…. I’m really sorry for how I behaved the last time… I regret not answering your calls, Papa… that was wrong of me. I’m here now though, and I came to see you have a good time. It doesn’t matter how you do, I’m proud of you. I’m proud that you’re my Papa, no matter how embarrassing you can be around my friends,” She paused to giggle, “I love you.”

Proud. Father. Moment. To the extreme. Zach choked back his tears and leaned down to meet her in an attempted hug, only for her to shriek at the discovery of how wet he really was. Well, good enough. Then it was time to go, for the clock to start. Yet, he felt more confident now. Even if this sucked, there was more legs ahead. It wasn’t over, the fight wasn’t lost. He had a lot left in him still.

It wasn’t over until the clock stopped ticking.

Tick. Tick.

left a lot of details out in my drawing buuut i figure if i get stuck in europe, i want something uploaded and ready

if not, well then i have a few days to fix it!!

all the foreshadowing

and now i'm off to helsinki for four days, and stockholm for five. bye bye!

references: provided by hcl + eventingarab.tumblr.com/image/…
palace (grid technique used): www.flickr.com/photos/nside/56…

Description

Previously: butterfly, fly away | Next: sit back or die

i WIN FOR EARLIEST ENTRY muAHAH

Rider: Zachary De Luca
Horse: FDS Best Kept Secret

Representing as an INDIVIDUAL

jump in the c A AA ccc

Tick. Tick. Tick

It felt different this time. Much more different.

And in some ways, it felt worse.

His daughter was here at his side this time. By some miracle he had won her over, or perhaps the temptation of travels had been enough to entice her to fake love him again. It was something those teenagers seemed to do quite well these days. Yet, she appeared genuinely happy. Either way he was thankful to have her around, she was wise beyond her age and offered quite the words of encouragement.

Nevertheless, the feeling lingered with him like a bad taste in his mouth. Maybe it was only the dreadful weather. A mere drizzle now, however he had been out warming up long enough that he was already soaked. The dark clouds loomed overhead, the storm threatening and impending. It was only the beginning. It was going to get far worse from here.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“- It’s nothing we haven’t experienced with our Kentucky springs.” The voice of his daughter broke him from his thoughts. Had she been talking to him for a while now?

“Yes, but usually we ride inside then. It’s fine though, we’ll take it quite a bit slower than we did in Tokyo. That didn’t work too well in our favor… and given the arena footing now, I need to give her time to think.” Zachary shifted as he glanced warily at one of the ring stewards. He was lucky that Primrose wasn’t scared of umbrellas. She was rather collected given the circumstances, much more so than she had been in Japan. It was him who was scared witless.

There was pressure now, the pressure to perform better than he had in Tokyo. Would Adam ever let him hear the end of it if he did poorly? How he had gone out wearing FDS colors and made a mockery of them? Zach shuddered again. There was the feeling. Curse his own anxiety, it was like this every competition, but somehow so much more painful this time.

Tick. Tick. Tick

It was a dizziness. It felt like a loss of control, his vision becoming darker as the tunnel closed. The numbness started in his hands again, in his feet and upwards. Deep breath, you’re fine. That’s what he repeated over and over. The wind howled, and he ducked his head to avoid the rain, the storm threatening once more. Overhead, the HCL flag flapped defiantly against the current. Oh god, what if he passed out?

“Hey.” Emily looked up at him, placing her hand on his leg. A strand of her dark wavy hair clung to the side of her face in a comedic way. “I’m…. I’m really sorry for how I behaved the last time… I regret not answering your calls, Papa… that was wrong of me. I’m here now though, and I came to see you have a good time. It doesn’t matter how you do, I’m proud of you. I’m proud that you’re my Papa, no matter how embarrassing you can be around my friends,” She paused to giggle, “I love you.”

Proud. Father. Moment. To the extreme. Zach choked back his tears and leaned down to meet her in an attempted hug, only for her to shriek at the discovery of how wet he really was. Well, good enough. Then it was time to go, for the clock to start. Yet, he felt more confident now. Even if this sucked, there was more legs ahead. It wasn’t over, the fight wasn’t lost. He had a lot left in him still.

It wasn’t over until the clock stopped ticking.

Tick. Tick.

left a lot of details out in my drawing buuut i figure if i get stuck in europe, i want something uploaded and ready

if not, well then i have a few days to fix it!!

all the foreshadowing

and now i'm off to helsinki for four days, and stockholm for five. bye bye!

references: provided by hcl + eventingarab.tumblr.com/image/…
palace (grid technique used): www.flickr.com/photos/nside/56…