[Gift] Day 2 - Hilda's Point

Orienteering. Of the many things that Sam was anxious about - from how Hafs did with in hand and how he would do with liberty- he was most anxious of orienteering. He had traveled far on Hafs’ with only the clothes on his back once before, and he had traveled far again with Hafs’, accompanied by Shade and Adam from ‘bum fuck egypt’ Tennessee down to New Orleans, Louisiana. He had bitter memories of both, how much he had struggled on his own, back when he couldn’t figure out how to open a can, and then how he had been separated for almost a week from his husband on their trek down to New Orleans. From the moment Sam opened his eyes, he felt cold from the inside out, trembling and with the brief excuse that it was just freezing outside, but the southern bell's silence spoke volumes as they got dressed. 

“Did you not want to do this one mon cher?”

Sam's blue eyes fixated on his lover as the question was asked, and he had forced a smile as he shook his head. 

“I'm just cold, beau, we can do this.” He insisted with an uncertain smile and he had the goosebumps on his skin that covered up so much of his half truth.

He stepped out into the cold morning air under Adam's arm and they hurried to the stable that they knew was far warmer than the winter breeze outside. Sam cursed and prayed that it would warm up by noon, but he hadn't been hopeful. Not when they were heading towards the mountains that he had seen a white sheet of snow.

Hafs was far crankier than usual as he was pulled out of the stall and had the blanket removed, though this time the beast had snapped his jaws at Sam and Adam stepped in to make a correction with displeasure in his voice. 

“I get just as mad when you pull the blankets off me.” Sam claimed, though grateful for the correction and had looked uneasy as he put the stallion's saddle on. And Adam responded as he usually did, Hafs still had no business trying to bite him despite how unsuccessful he was and how Sam was convinced Hafs wouldn't actually bite him- for as many times as he had ‘tried’, Sam still had been unscathed by the horse's teeth. Adam pointedly noted how Shade didn’t do anything like it, and offered, possibly for the hundredth time, to make the spotted stallion a gelding instead. To which, for possibly the hundredth time, Sam retorted that Hafs was a bit attached to them.

Sam went over board packing, geared to the teeth in preparation for their small excursion into the mountains thanks to wanting to be overprepared from the slim (though he stated ‘very possible’) chance that they would get separated. A sleeping back with a spare set of clothes rolled into it, his canteen full, his saddlebags filled with things like matches, a few cans of food- though mostly peaches as Sam refused to eat much else except Adam’s cooking, while Adam was repeating that they would be just fine and put Shade’s gear on.

The Norwegian guide met them outside the stable on one of the stable’s horses, a golden pearl dun Loshenka named Frangipane- that Sam only recognized from when he and Adam had walked through the stables to admire the horses there the previous day after the in hand event. Sam had taken a particular liking to the stallion due to his ‘kind eyes’ as he had claimed. 

The man, however, he did not recognize and had greeted them in his strange accent, but Sam felt distant with anxiety, and had been too afraid to ask the man to repeat his name, or the brief explanation he had about the short excursion they were about to go on. His chest felt tight as he rubbed the tips of his thumbs against the reins nervously and they started into a walk off the property, where every few paces Hafs would get hot footed under him and Sam would have to slow him down back into a walk with the small group- consisting now of his husband on his brindled flame colored cow pony, a blonde man with a thin frame that seemed used to the cold and had a very bizarre and unrecognizable accent  (which caused Sam to miss his name as well but was too afraid to ask him to repeat himself) riding a red dun Loshenka with a long rapunzel tail, and the Fjellhov staff member on top of Frangipane.

As they got started, Sam couldn’t hear his own thoughts over his heartbeat, and less, anything that the rest of the group said and the further away they got from Fjellov Stud, and the smaller the buildings got behind them, the more he had to start zoning out on the spotted stallion, checking in momentarily to correct his footing only to check out once more. He sat uneasily in the saddle, swallowing hard as his head swiveled but his eyes refused to focus on anything that could be seen as a landmark- instead he noted other strange things. That orange leaf laid in a strange way, almost looked like a bug with the way it quivered in the cold breeze, and that rock reflected the sunlight in a way that made it look like it was covered in glitter, and the crunching of many hooves as they treaded over dirt, snow, and dead leaves.

“Sam!” 

It was loud enough that it caught everyone’s attention, the staff member and the brunette looking back as Sam looked up and turned red at all the eyes on him before he looked at Adam who must have whispered his name a few times trying to get his attention before resorting to barking his name. He wondered how much he had missed before being brought back to reality.  

“Are you okay mon cher?” 

Sam hesitated but nodded, “I’m still waking up.” He said with a slight sniffle from the cold, rubbing the back of his wrist against his nose as they came to a stop.  

Adam was visibly uncertain, and the offer for them to go back was tossed into the air by the staff member, which ended up getting bounced around the four of them. The blonde was fine with it, understanding, but Sam felt belittled, as if the three of them had plotted against his pride to question his ability. Sam responded with bitterness, a sour note in his voice and his nose scrunched up as if he had smelled something foul as he argued that he was fine, and that they should get moving because they had already started and that the trip should only take an hour. Sightseeing was all it was, they were just sightseeing. Sam could handle an hour of sight seeing.

Adam rode Shade close to Sam and Hafs, though still following the other two, they hung back a bit while Adam tried to keep Sam in conversation with him. And Sam was ever grateful for it, finding comfort in his husband’s Cajun accent and sweet words as he talked about what they would see and what they could do when they got back. The nice warm cabin, his husband’s arms, and, hopefully, some familiar cooking. And Adam promised and Adam swore, up and down, left and right, that they would not get separated again, that he would make sure of it and his husband kept that promise that even if they got parted from the group, that he would still be at his side, that he would always be next to him regardless of what could happen on their way up the paths to the first landmark

Sam didn’t release the tension in his shoulders until they got there. 

The view was gorgeous, relieving the built up stress and anxiety that was in his chest and shoulders as he looked past the slope of the path into deep valleys and shadowed by the naturally carved mountainside skirted with large trees that were humbled in size compared to the large cliff sides. That’s what Sam felt, in the moment, he too, was humbled. 

The guide explained that the landmark was called Hilda point, currently nicknamed that by some of the locals because a Northern Hawk-Owls they had dubbed Hilda had made a nest near there and could oftentimes be heard screeching nearby- and if they were lucky, could be spotted while she hunted.

The brunette had asked Sam a question, but it had gone over his head and Adam had to get his attention for the man to ask again… and then a third time when he couldn’t make out his accent with red cheeks until Adam translated for him. Oh, the picture… Sam awkwardly squeezed Hafs’ sides to inch Hafs around the group to pose, looking over with a forced smile and crooked shoulders as Hafs snorted impatiently over the fact that they had stopped- did they not know it was cold? He snorted through his nose, puffing out steam as if to remind them and as the picture had been snapped, Hafs took the reins himself to start moving again as he puffed and grumbled as if scolding them to move on. The group hadn’t been lucky enough to see her in action, but Sam had felt chills of wonder when he heard the cackling of her call from the trees in her scratchy voice- as if telling them it was time for them to move on. 

And so they did, moving on from the peak and starting their descent back down the mountain trail where Adam and Sam stayed back but kept the rest of the group in sight. 

The two ahead of them had slowed down to jump down a slope, taking it easily but hung around the bottom as they waited for the couple to catch up with them and make sure they- or more so worry of Sam on the appaloosa- could make it down. And Sam had been just as unsure as them, though had been blessed with a brave and patient husband who stopped to start coaching him quietly with a sweet tone before showing Sam what to do by taking Shade down and looking back to make sure he could make it. 

The anxious red head had to keep the now antsy Hafs in place, feeling his feet pacing under him as he snorted and then let out a short bellow of complaint from Sam’s hesitance. The drop down wasn’t that far, he could make it, if Sam would just give him the reins back. 

Adam coaxed before he started to climb off Shade when Hafs decided to fight Sam for the reins and jump down anyway. Sam started barking out a string of curses, his cheeks red hot from embarrassment and fear as he grabbed the cantle to stay in the saddle as he stood up in the stirrups to brace for the landing. 

“You alright?” Adam asked as his feet hit the ground and Sam reined Hafs into a stop despite his fit of impatience with his raised tail and snorts that almost sounded like a pig snorting. 

Sam had to collect himself in the saddle, his cheeks still red and his tears hot as he nodded with lost pride. Once the eyes were off of him and they started moving again, Sam took a moment to rub his eyes with the back of his gloved hands and try to bring his heartrate back down as he stayed close to the brindled stallion’s flanks on the rest of the trail to the second and then third landmark. All while Adan slowed down to check on Sam, watching his lover fidget with the reins and rock his heel in the stirrup. 

When they got back to Fjellov Stud, his gaze met Adam’s and it made a crooked smile form with the expression of a playful ‘I told you so’ as they climbed off their horses and led them in. It had been just under an hour despite how much Sam had felt he held everyone back despite Adam's reassurances.

Hafs and Shadee were glad to finally get their blankets put back onto them and put in their warm stalls, and Sam was happy to go back to the cabin and warm up by the fire with his husband.