12065/Kanga Court

Kanga Court
Date of Scene:	29 July 2022
Location:	Courtyard and Arena
Synopsis:	A Kanga Court is held at the Themysciran Arts Center ARena. This is the training of new Kanga Riders who were interested in experiencing a little more Themysciran culture! Who knows, maybe they'll become totally Pro Kanga Riders some day!
Cast of Characters:	Diana Prince, Colborn, Bart Allen, Mercy Thompson, Cassie Sandsmark, Tabitha Smith, Jennifer Walters, Kora Ikassis, Phoebe Beacon, Donna Troy

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Diana Prince has posed:
The Arena is empty of spectators tonight, but it is not empty in-so-far-as that the grounds themselves are loaded up with a rin of post-hitched Kangas! The marsupiels are much larger than the more commonly known 'Kangaroo' from the Outbacks of Australia, and instead, these 'Roos' have been bred for combat! But also just to be loyal mounts to the Amazons who may need a more versatile mount beyond a mere horse from time to time...

In the now, the Kangas that have been brought to New York are all hitched up, saddled, and looking quite happy after enjoying a bit of food this evening. They stand proudly in a long line around the perimeter of the Arena floor, their armored legs just gently moving atop the sands brought in from Themyscira's shores also.

Amongst the madness of it all, is Wonder Woman herself, wearing her Eagle Armor, and sitting atop an ornate leather saddle. Her leather wrapped hands are holding the reigns of her Kanga mount, 'Jumpa' and she's commanding him to walk along the sandy floor of the ARena, while her dark hair loosely flows in the warm summer evening winds...

Diana eyes those who have shown up, and she offers them all a smile. "Welcome to the fun this evening." The Princess announces. "I am sure you have read the information provided prior to the event tonight, so you are at least... somewhat familiar with what the aim here tonight is... That being... to let you have a chance to further immerse yourself in a little bit of Themysciran culture..." She motions to the long line of Kangas waiting for riders, they all having different fur patterns, from solid black, to bright blonde, to deep red, and earthen brown. Some seem eager for what is happening tonight, while others just watch with what could be considered utter boredom....

Diana smiles further, and motions to everyone. "I encourage you to walk the line, and find one that you think appeals to you. Get to know them, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to call them out."

Colborn has posed:
    And yes, Colborn didn't really attend this event to view or ride a Kanga. He was not even aware that the event was happening. I mean he has befriended an Amazon or two, but he was really just using employment paperwork as an excuse to visit and say hello.

    And as a chance to step out of the forge. He loves forging. He -loves- it. But no matter what you love, you need a break now and then. So after a long shower, he took the subway rather than a boom tube. I mean... it's a bit presumptuous to use Mother Box to go across town for a social call.

    And so, striding towards the Embassy, he heard something odd... and so he crossed the street to peer into the Arena. Yes, his eyes widen in confusion and a bit of awe. In all his years, he has never seen an animal such as this. At least not of its size and caliber. Paperwork is stuffed away into Mother Box's storage space, and he enters the arena. This looks.. interesting to say the least. And so he acts as if he belongs here, and approaches the line of animals... an oddly amused smile on his face.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen resists the urge to speed through the line and look at all of them. Bart finds Themyscira interesting but the Kanga, well Bart's all about the Kangas. He is bouncing a bit foot to foot not quite blurring in his speed, but eager and excited, looking a bit like younger Bart than he has lately. He looks over to Diana at her words and nods, and when she says to look he is off. He does do one speed circuit to look at all of the Kanga's stopping at this one or that one for a moment to look at them a bit more, and then he heads to one of the redder ones and he holds out his hand with a few pieces of beets in it offering it to the animal. Seems Bart has studied up on them. "Hey there boy, how are you doing?" He tries to stroke the Kanga while it eats the treat.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    If ever there is a time to play up one's heritage this seemed to be the day. So Mercy went and did her dark hair in a pair of braids, tided with simple leather bands. She has a pair of white feathered earrings tipped in red, she's got on a simple tanktop and some jeans to go along with the outfit. The top is short enough to show the paw print tattoo near her naval as well as all the ones on her arms.
    The woman comes walking in, doing her best to look relaxed. A look likely ruined by her big grin as she sees the animals that she was told she could try to ride. She's all about trying to learn, especially about a historic culture. To keep herself from fidgeting, she slips her hands into the back pockets, rocking on her heels and toes a bit as Diana gets her full attention for the talk.
    When they are told to walk the line she'll step up, not sure how the line will respond to her so she goes slow, watching the animals and trying to not spook them if they catch her scent. She doesn't really know anyone much here, but knows better then to not watch a combat trained animal.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie, too, is down there on the arena floor with Diana. Rather than riding, she's standing beside a second Kanga, checking the saddle and then... pausing to take a selfie that puts her and the animal in the foreground and framing the crowd here for the event behind them. This is Hoppa, a fairly standard tan-furred kanga, and she's a bit of a celebrity: debuting on TV as the world watched the alien invasion several years ago, she now has her own Instagram account with millions of followers. Presumably Cassie runs it, but who knows. Maybe the thursday 'Roo thoughts' posts are genuinely the opinion of the beast herself!

In any case, the younger Amazon is dressed up like her mentor, fully embracing Themysciran garb over her usual athleticwear. Because this is a big official event, and she's gotta show her proper support!

"Don't be nervous about coming and saying hello, folks. They're both highly intelligent and well-trained, so it's perfectly safe so long as you're polite!" Patting her own companion's flank, she looks up and down the line. "If you've got any questions, or need help, don't be afraid to speak up!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The Themysciran Embassy is one of those places wheree Tabby can totally come and sometimes maybe train, mostly in ger fighting techniques. As occasionally and sloppy they can be. But she can go a little more full tilt. Not level the arena BOOMs but loud noises. Usually the women sparring with her still hand her her ass but that's probably why she occasioannly comes back when she has the time.

Hence how she found out about the thing with Kanga training. And how she's shown up dressed somewhere between fronting between one of her X-Suits and street clothes. Old yellow jeans, rips at the knees and a red leather jacket. made for motorcycles. Under that a midriff showing black and yellow top with extra padding at the yellow on her shoulders chest and back. Red boots concealing the cuffs of her pants laced up to her knees while a belt and choker in dull spiked red leather add some accessorising along with some glasses in all translucent red with oval shaped lenses. Even the hair tie keeping her pony tail mostly well behaved is the same red.

The blonde woman possitively squeeing at the sight of the massive marsupials and bouncing herself on the spot. "Those guys are like totes dorbs. They could give my boi Jerome Badonk Smith back home a run!" The X-Donk kicking back in the stables at the Xavier School. He knows he's got it made.

"I think if I brought one of these guys home they'd go nuts. They school. But I might wait till after one of thsese guys decides to let me say a better hellow beforte we judge a kanga's mental health." she adds with a giggle as she moves along the line and tries to offer cheek rubs and easr scritches.

Absent mindedly she almost offers Cassie the same. "Cute, but you'll break my arm!" she says with a chuckle.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jennifer is literally bouncing on the balls of her feet in delight, with an ear splitting grin on her fact. She's dressed in tight fitting purple jeans, white sneaks and a t-shirt obviously just bought from the gift store that has a picture of a huge Kanga on it with 'I <3 Kangas!' emblazoned on the front. She could have fitted herself into the set of Themysciran armor that Diana had had made for her, but c'mon. Why waste an opportunity to literally wear your love on your sleeve?

    She walks down the line going from kanga to kanga until she stops at a russet colored one that seems to have taken a keen interest in her. "Well, hello there!" she says to her. "Aren't you a sweetie!" She reaches out with confidence and scritches the muzzle of the Kanga who seems to enjoy it. "You know," she says looking over her shoulder to address whoever might be listening. "I was never really a horse or a unicorn girl when I was growing up. But if I had known about kangas, I would have /definitely/ been a kanga girl."

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    The youngest Amazon in New York has only mounted on a kanga a few times as part of her training regimen in the previous two years. So, she can hardly be counted among the "expert" riders.
    By no means as glorious as the Princess, Kora wears a bronze-colored corselet, greaves, and bracers. Only her short cape distinguishes her from other Amazons. It is Aegean blue, blazoned with a wave, crossed by a trident in white.
    Eyes focused and grave, the young woman stops next to a black kanga, addressing it solemnly, "Will you take me on your back, Mavros?" Stroking its flank, she pulls the saddle to check the girth before placing her weight in the stirrup.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Coming in somewhat behind Colborn and Bart, Phoebe Beacon looks somewhat cowed. Wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans with blow-outs at the knees, an orange wrap around her head and boots, she had hesitantly come up to the Cultural Center -- the first time she'd been since its opening ceremony where Caitlin had become a full-fledged Amazon.

    Doesn't that seem like so long ago.

    Her shoulders rise up as she checks the wide silk collar around her neck before she steps into the arena, the Gothamite hanging back a little as others make a run for kangas that catch their eye, watching the red motorcycle jacketed girl, looking as Cassie and Diana move with ease around the arena, and the other Amazon strike up a friendship with familiarity to the black kanga. Phoebe herself steps down, and walks the line slowly, pausing a moment before one kanga -- white, with black ears and a black muzzle, just sets its head on Phoebe's head. Phoebe makes a Wet Cat Face, and looks up at the friendly creature, sloooowly reaching up to scritch at the chin sitting over her forehead.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana watches the people gathering up and moving to engage with some of the Kangas. The beasts seem utterly unaffraid of the attention from the various people, almost like they're more confident than the people are themselves! The well behaved animals just stand there, owning their territory, with some of them happily engaging with those who get close, like Phoebe, while others just ignore the Humans like they have no time for them. Truth be told, they're just a very 'chill' species!

Diana laughs softly at Jenn, and smiles brightly toward her. "I love your shirt." She tells the fancy lawyer, before she turns Jumpa to walk past Cassie and Tabitha, she offers Mercy a smile. "Glad to see you made it this evening." She tells the talented car mechanic.

Her eyes sweep over to Kora, who gets a warm smile, and a light nod as well, before she notes Colborn. "Ah, you stepped away from the Forge tonight to join us. You are more than welcome to pick a Kanga and get a bit of riding in, if you would like." She tells him nextly, while Jumpa continues to move down the line of those gathering up.

"You'll find their names are attached to their right shoulders, etched in gold upon their saddle harnesses." The Princess explains. "They are quite familiar with their names, but if you wish to give them a nickname, they are quite... quick at adapting. So do not hesitate." She explains to all who are gathered.

"When mounting. just put your dominant leg up, foot in the stirrup and use the leather harness at the front, and back of the saddle to pull yourself up. You'll find the metal grips there, to be perfect for hoisting yourself up in to the saddle itself. If you have any horse training, that will make it all easier, but if not... well... the sand is soft, if you do fall..." She states with a smirk.

Colborn has posed:
    Eyes sliding towards Kora, Colborn grins. "Good to see you again Kora." And then his dark eyes traverse to Diana and he bows his head, "I quite literally was here for other business. But I could not pass up this opportunity when I saw it. I must admit.." he shrugs, "I have never ridden anything such as these noble beasts."

    That said, he approaches one that looks about as roughly bearded as he does. The hair on its chin being just a tiny bit scruffy. Colborn tilts his head left, and then right. Then he smirks and says, "I think that I will call you Hoss."

    That said, he reaches a hand for the flank and strides around the side of the creature before stepping into a stirrup and swinging himself up atop the creature.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over the name and tries it out and says "Well how about we call you Thunder?" He asks the Kanga, who seems to like the treat, and Bart smiles and scritches the animal between the ears and says "Yes Thunder the Kanga, He looks over to Cassie, and Phoebe and mouths "So Crash." He turns back to the animal, and will examine it's riding gear even though the amazons set it up best to check out anything an animal has on before getting on one.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy glances as the others show up, those who are alert and very perceptive may see her nostrils subtly flaring. She will look up when Diana and Jumpa come closer. "I'm glad I got the invitation, thanks. In spite of where I grew up, not a lot experience with larger animals. Unless I was hunting them of course." Unable to smile at that. "I get they are smart and trained, but I thought it best to let the Kanga's get more used to me then the others. Made sure to scrub as much of my job off me as well. Probably mostly smell of pumice stone."
    Mercy will follow who else talks to Diana to try and get a read of the group dynamics. Slowly moving toward the kangas. She won't lock eyes, tends to walk at oblique angles rather then directly toward one.
    Cassie's earlier question draws Mercy to ask, "So what do they eat? I mean are they a fruit and grain species? Insectivores maybe?" Hell for all she knows they are carnivore that hunt other animals. She will see about approaching one that is tawny in color with more reds in their limbs and some subtle tones of gray along the back. When she smiles to this one she makes sure to keep her teeth hidden, "love the coat. Highly approve of it." She glances at the shoulder, "Dolos. I'm Mercy." She smooth and slow raises a hand toward the Kanga. She steps up toward the Kanga to rise on her toes, leaning in at the neck to whisper soft as possible to the Kanga. Holding her pose there for a bit. Then she's starting to circle the Kanga. "All right, lets try this." She will go to step up.
    One leg in the stirrup she gives herself a boost and.... Dolos does a short hop to somewhat book Mercy up who sails over the Kanga to land in the soft dirt. She's unhurt, knowing how to take a fall and rolls to her knees. Dolos for her part just thumps the tail and rubs at her tummy looking very pleased with herself. Mercy laughs some, "oh... like that huh?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
To be fair to Jerome, Tabby never rode the guy, or any of the horses. She still offered those huys some of the carrots and apples and other treaty feed she saved for her own boy but she never rode.

She did however telepathically crib the knowledge of how to ride and saddle and bridle a horse. It was different to what she knew. But luckily she doesn't have to do that either.

Putting one fut in a stirrup of the Kanga that seems most amenable. "Imma call you Roo-Dee! school ain't gonna let me take you home but I'll come visit you and your fam here when I come train!" she says and makes a big hop and thankfully she's only a hundred and twenty pounds so the big critter probably barely feels the weight despite Tabby being a bundle of fit muscles and curves.

Not Amazonian or She-Hulk amounts, to Tabitha's dismay and the continued attempts at supressing her telepathy and subsequent mix of body image compartisons and crushes for the benefit of not grossing anyone out.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Break your arm?!" Cassie turns, giving Tabitha a wide-eyed look and a slow blink. "Did that happen in training or something? I remember a bunch of you came for one of our previous sessions. But I think the girl I tossed on her head was, uh, like super durable or something. So she was fine!" She grins. "If not, my bad!"

Apparently, Amazon training is rough and tumble enough that it's possible to break someone's arm doing it and FORGET you did so. Scary!

Still, the blonde mini-zon is all energy for this event. As people start approaching the Kangas, she moves down the line to watch them interact, offering any tips or assistance as might be necessary. This effort is only interrupted when she spots Jennifer. In her very fashionable get-up!

"Oooh!" Cassie echoes after Diana compliments it, jogging a few quick steps over to her, once more brandishing her phone, that odd modern contrast to her ancient warrior garb. "Lemme get a pic? Gotta promote the merch! I can tag you too..." She scootches in, holding up her phone, and after taking a quick snap, looks back around the group. "If you like the shirt, you can get your own in the Art Center gift shop!" As is rapidly becoming apparent, Cassie isn't just an Amazon... she's also a the Art Center Coordinator for New Media. Or at least, she calls herself that.

Throwing up the metal 'horns' in response to Bart's future-slang, she next heads over to where Kora is getting ready, "Hey, how are you two doing? Think you'd be up for doing a demonstration with me?" Her expression is boldly mischievious. As she waits on an answer, she turns to answer Mercy: "Mostly they're herbavores, like non-Themysciran kangaroos, although they eat a lot more and can digest some pretty tough stuff in a pinch."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a bright grin to Bart as he attempts to sound out the Themysciran name for his Kanga. She looks to her own - Kheimon. Winter. Seems appropriate. Unlike Bart and everyone else, she doesn't seem to do much talking, though Kheimon seems intent on sniffing her headwrap, and then taste-testing it with a mild expression and a pleased grunt.
R    Shifting her weight a little as she scritches the Kanga, Phoebe moves to try and mount, giving the kanga a gentle pet, as if in apology for her silence when everyone else was complementing their new friends, and she hoists herself up onto the saddle spryly.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Kora grunts softly to herself as she pushes off the soft sand and grabs the harness high on Mavro's neck. Feeling Diana's attention, she looks up to return the smile with a wave, once she is firmly seated and found the other stirrup. Leaning forward, she tests the length of the stirrups before gently but firmly asking the Kanga to back and turn.

    "Colborn," she calls. "Good to see you on my day off! You know how to ride a kanga?" She asks both surprised and impressed.

    Talking to Mavros and stroking his neck, the other hand firmly gripping the harness and reins, Kora and Mavros begin a slow circuit of the arena.

    They come to a stop next to the whirlwind of energy, Cassie, jogging toward them, "I am very well! I might disgrace all of our sisters, Cassie." She breaks into a bright grin. "So what is a little shame. Of course!

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jennifer grins hugely back at Diana before turning back to her kanga. After a final scritch on the nose, she walks over to the side to look at the nameplate. "Bonka, hunh?" she asks, to which the kanga turns and looks at her expectantly. She pats her flank and says, "It's nice to meet you, Bonka."

    Cassie grabs her attention and turns away from the kanga. "Hey, Cass! Of course." She fluffs her hair a bit and, grabbing Bonka's reigns, brings her head into the frame, too. She strikes a pose worthy of any supermodel and gives the camera a show-stopping smile until Cassie is done taking pics. "Yeah, tag me. I'll post them up on my 'gram, too."

    "Now," she says, turning back to her kanga, "let's see if I can keep from making a fool of myself." Being tall and super strong seems to help with mounting. She gets her foot in the stirrup and easily lifts herself up and over onto the saddle. "Well. That wasn't too bad." She wiggles about a bit, getting comfortable, which earns her a curious look from Bonka. She laughs and reaches forward to scritch behind the ears, "Okay, I'm done now."

Diana Prince has posed:
When Mercy falls, Diana is stepping over to her, having already dismounted from Jumpa and offering the woman a hand to stand back up. "Be careful with that one." She warns with a motion toward Trickster. "She will try and make a fool of you, if you are not on your toes." She notes with a grin before she walks back toward her Kanga and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Plants, primarily." Diana answers the question about what they eat. "Though, they are a curious bunch, and will likely try something at least once. But... be prepared for them to spit it at you if they don't like it." She states with another smirk before she motions across the ARena toward some arriving Amazons in casual attire, their flowing garments moving around their legs as they stride within the Arena, carrying baskets filled with food for the Kangas.

"Once you are mounted, and settled in, you can start to try and ride them toward the snacks over there that our friends are holding for them." The Princess notes with a motion of her hand to the Amazons who spread out and hold those baskets in front of their waists, all each smiling toward the guests here tonight.

"TAke it easy, at first. Just give a slight compression of your ankles against their sides, and they will know you wish to go forward. A pull on the reign will turn them in the direction you wish to adjust too, and pulling back on the reigns will stop them, pulling back twice will tell them to walk backwards..."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and seeing Cassie taking pictures, he will have to grab his lab coat so he can do a couple Dr. Impulse pics with Cassie. He does climb up on Thunder and scratches his sides a bit and will start to guide him over towards the snacks, he makes is about half way and then, with a blink of an eye Thunder is across the arena and munching on the snack. Did the Kanga just move at superspeed, for just a moment yes it did. Bart is atop it and is looking around, and looks over at the Amazon "Um sorry about that." He says as he and Thunder are there and Thunder is will seem content and Bart says "Um if he can have a second, he might be a bit hungry." He tells them

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's a grin to Cassandra when tabby gets a reply and Tabby is up and steady on the Kanga with the awesomest name. "I mean you'd break my arm if I accidentally felt you up! So I can scritch your ears and hive you chets and tummy rubs later?" Tabby half jokingly asks to the other blonde with a playful smile. "And no the girl you did smack around was not me. I was beating up Booster. Or trying. That damn forcefield!" she says and chuckles at the reccollection. "Monet does seem to be a magnet for being beat up by blondes." she adds and chuckles. "Part of me wonders if she has a type. Which appearances to the contrary. I am not. Well maybe but I don't wanna beat my friend up. Usually" she's mostly talking to herself there as everyone else moves on.

As instructions to get the Kanga's snacks is given Tabby hmms and tries to maybe cheat on directing her new marsupial friend by nudging with as gentle a telepathic suggestion as possible. "Easy now. You know what you're doing. Bet those snacks are gonna rock. You gonna miss out?" she says aloud while she gets the Kanga to move. At a slow pace a kanga or kangaroo still moves on all fours in little hops much like a bunny. The jumping and bounding only happens at speed and Tabby is currentlly negotiating to avoid that right out of the gate.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Great!" Cassie answers Kora. "Lemme go mount up. After I lead folks on their riding a little, I'm gonna head to the end of the arena, you take Mavros to the other side."

And with those instructions to the even younger Amazon (woah Cassie has seniority over someone?!), Cassie turns to return to Hoppa, mounting up in a swift, graceful motion. She can fly so it's kind of easy but she does it the hard way, it looks like! Once mounted, she quickly takes the reins and guides her mount away, toward the opposite end of the stadium; they can apparently be controlled with a combination of the reins themselves, knee pressure, and even some audible clicks, short commands and other audible signals. She demonstrates a few of these as she rides Hoppa down the line past the others. "For turning its easiest to use your knees, as its the most intuitive, just hold the reins lightly, and you can give a little squeeze to start, and then guide with your whole body, turning to look where you want to go and angling that way." She demonstrates a bit, eventually guiding everyone on a slow small loop on one side of the stadium.

Eventually, though, Cassie breaks off from this shorter circuit and heads to the far side like she told Kora. When she reaches her position, she turns around to find Kora on the far side. "Alright folks, give us a little room, since we're gonna do a demonstration for you." And then, with some sense of ceremony, she shouts a word in what must be the archaid Themysciran Greek. The translation becomes clear as two other Amazons who have been assisting with the vent turn and move to the side... to one of the weapon racks. There, they grab a pair of lances, with each then moving toward one of the pair of young Amazons to hand them each the weapons. There's a sense of ceremony to it!

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy starts to reach for Diana's hand then stops noticing how Dolos is watching her. She politely refuses the hand up to dust herself off and says, "That's okay. I always enjoy a challenge." Dusting herself off she looks to Cassie, "Thanks for the information. So these Kanga are tough and combat trained right?" This time when she smiles at Dolos she will meet the Kanga's eyes and show her teeth. Not that they are anything but normal people teeth. But animals, especially smart ones, can read body language.
    "I can respect one that bucks the trends, and doesn't just take anyone on their back." She walks up toward Dolos and says, "Your friend is taking a seven foot green woman without any comment. You gonna let someone /else/ show you up? Or you trying to say slim me is too heavy for you." Yeah she's somewhat taunting the Kanga. Glancing to the others, "you know I read once that Australian Kangaroo leather is the strongest leather you can find. It's what they made Indy's whip out of." She totally plans to try and fake out Dolos by going for the same mounting method. Only this time she'll try a free standing jump to hug the animal on it's neck. Showing she remarkably spry for a mechanic and faster then one may expect. Though nothing like the display of speed Bart puts on of course. Amrs tight on the neck Mercy leans in and gives Dolos' ear a literally bite as she lands her butt on the Kanga's back> "That's for the toss. We're even now." Course she isn't sure if she'll STAY on the animals' back. But she's always been one to do things more her way. She's okay if she eats dirt again. She's sure she can come to an understanding with Dolos before she breaks something. Hopefully before she misses Cassie and Kora's demonstration.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe seems pretty comfortable, in spite of the lack of vocal commands and encouragement, eases the white kanga about, who seems to be happily following commands for the moment. It hops a bit, and Phoebe moves with him, following the movement with her body before the kanga gives a slight buck and a bow, sliding Phoebe over his neck and head until she falls to her rear end on the sand with a silent yelp.

    And then the kanga happily returns to taste-testing her orange headwrap.

    There's a slight grin as Phoebe waves off the munching kanga, and then comes back up to his side, re-mounts, and -- with a better grip this time -- eases her legs inwards, directing the kanga to hop around again and out of the way of the demonstration.

    She also excitedly waves down Bart and points to herself with enthusiasm!

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Murmuring to Mavros in Greek, Kora directs her mount to the opposite end of the arena. She can feel his eagerness in his energetic movement under her. Mavro's ears swivel, tracking the others in the arena until she brings them to a stop opposite Cassie. He knows what is about to begin - his ears point forward and he chuffs impatiently.

    While she waits for the Amazon bringing her a lance, Kora watches the others in the arena, noting some with interested surprise. Green women are a little out of her experience but then most things are that didn't exist on the islands where she grew up. Her new employer, Colborn, not unexpectedly, handles himself well. Out of the corner of her eye, she was sure that one kanga and rider blurred and moved several meters in a blink.

    "Good luck," the older woman wishes her, handing up the lance. Mavros starts forward without any prompt from her and she reins him back with the kanga/Greek version of 'whoa'. Kora tests the lance and sets it into the stirrup holder while Mavros's chaffs under her.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is observing the various riders, she winces when she sees Phoebe go down. "Do not let them intimidate you. If they get the sense that they can push you around, they will do it." She tells everyone within ear shot as she is once more upon Jumpa, and once more riding around the outskirts of the various people testing out their new friend.

She watches CAssie, and Kora gather up the lances, and smiles softly. "I promise that we will not make you do what these two young warriors are about to showcase either. Not until you feel you are ready, and we have agreed as much." The Princess announces further while riding toward the women in the brightly colored dresses offering the snacks, should the riders ride their Kanga mounts over to them.

The women with the plant treats are eagerly offering them to the Kangas who do ride closer, and Diana is right there coming around behind them to observe.

"If you wish to ride faster, the outer edge of the Arena has been setup as a track, so feel free to get comfortable, and then ride around the track... testing how fast you would like to go. Once you are comfortable with that... well... Cassie can instruct you on how to make your Kanga ... JUMP." Diana states with a grin crossing her lips.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen gives Thunder a moment to eat his snacks and rubs his side "Ok boy want to try some more?" He does notice Phoebe, and winces as she gets tossed, but gives her double thumbs up as she points to herself on the Kanga "You Rock." He will call out to her. He then notices Cassie and the other fixing to joust, he raises a brow and says "I thought you were supposed to joust on blue and red birds. " He gives the Kanga a bit more rubbing on the side, and says "Lets try the track, and Thunder seems to agree as the head for the track.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy and Dolos have a little bit of jockeying and struggle. Mercy determined to not be seen as a pushover from the 'trickster' Kanga and proving not so easy to fool a second time. Soon enough there is a wary peace between the pair. "We good now," she asks? Ready for another hip bump to try and unseat her or something else. The native woman then gives a small squeeze with her legs and handles the reigns. She and Dolos manage the crossing to the treats. While the Kanga eats she does her best to twist and watch the Amazons for their demonstration. Now atop the kanga she says, "maybe if you get a notch in your ear, I'll share my feather with you."
     Looking at the group here she has to ask, "So I know some of you like live and work here. Guessing most of you others already know each other as well?" She's pretty sure she knew if she had friends that were Amazons, super fast, or big and green.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Accepting the weapon she is brought, Cassie hefts it up, testing the weight. Naturally, these are blunted, unlike proper weapons of war, although they are still fairly sizable and hefty weapons, built and balanced for the unnatural strength of the Amazons and the scale of their powerful mounts. With a grip on hers, Cassie shifts a bit in her saddle, testing her balance and her footing in the stirrups. Hoppa seems relatively calm under the procedure, with just the occasional shift in posture or whuff of breath...

...until Cassie is satisfied with everything, and looks ahead, lifting her lance in a salute to her distant opponent. This seems to signal her mount as well, that hanging out and selfie time is over, and battle approaches. Hoppa adopts a stiff, regal posture to match the gesture, and then, as Cassie gives the first squeeze of her knees, leans forward as she begins a slow bounding pace forward. There is still distance to cover before she reaches Kora, and as Diana calls out, she's happy to narrate her approach, wrapping it into the lesson: "Kanga always have a kind of hopping cadence to their natural movement, short jumps at a medium speed that still give them a lot of control to stop quickly or turn, especially with the aid of their tails. As they speed up, the leap-stride lengthens. But they can also jump more intentionally, to gain height or distance. There are many kinds of jumps."

By now, as she's described it, Hoppa has sped from the 'easy bounce' to that longer one, bending slightly more forward, with her head extende for balance. As the speed increases past a point, Cassie brings down the lance tip, aiming for her counterpart's chest. Faster and faster...

...and at the last second, one of these rumored 'special' jumps, Cassie giving a sharp cry and slight jerk of the rein in her off hand, causing Hoppa to land, finding the ground with her feet and tail alike, but using one for power and the other for 'aim', the jump angling to one side, no doubt to confound and evade her opponent's aim!

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Mount and rider see the signal at the same time. They bond into a unit focused on their bounding adversary and leap into an easy jumping lope. Picking up speed, Mavro's smooth springs lengthen and Kora shifts her weight forward. The lance point tilts to a horizontal with the speeding ground, balanced easily in next to her hip.

    Faces are a blur as Kora and Mavros go airborn in the last spring before the final jolting skid and stop in the sand, tail planted and long hocks anchored beneath them. Braced for the shock, Kora seats herself solidly and leans angling for Cassie's breastplate. No quarter given to the senior Amazon!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby gets get Roo-Dee over to the ladies with the snacks. Clearly telepathic negotiations paid off with minimal mudging and prodding into the marsupial. There's chomping and nomming till the critter has had they're full.

Tabby clearly happy to let her friend eat and be spoiled while she gives rubs to the back of her neck and ears. Such warm fur! She does follow Cassie and Diana further instructing as best she can. Occasionally twitching her head like she's hearing stuff and messing with her attention span but doubles down on focus once more. The lance gets a concerned look on the blonde. A sense of nope radiating off the mutant. As Kora and Cassandra line up to joust and put on a show.

When Roo-Dee picks their head up. Tabby adds extra scritches which are clearly appreciated. "Wanna go do some laps see how fast you can go? I'm not gonna joust. I've seen too many animals used for war and had to... You deserve the easy life yo!" she gets back on track. Tabitha struggling to not parse what the Wonder Ladies are doing as a risk of cruelty and seems extra protective of Roo-Dee.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jennifer leans down to whisper in Bonka's ear. "Okay, girlie. Let's show them how it's done, okay?" Bonka gives Jen an agreeable sort of snort, and Jen clicks her tongue and pats the kanga's side with her heels to urge her mount forward. "Poise and aplomb," she reminds herself. "There are people watching."

    What happens next is pretty much the opposite of poise and aplomb. Bonka is so eager to go she just *takes off* and Jen just isn't ready for the bouncy gait. Flailing wildly doesn't seem to help her stay in her seat, however, and Jen goes tumbling ass over teakettle off the back of the kanga.

    She lands hard on her back and she just lays there for a bit staring dazedly into the sky before she bursts out in giddy laughter. Bonka seems rather disappointed that she had lost her rider, and slows down to turn around to investigate what happened to Jen.

    The kanga leans down and gives Jen a little *bonk* on the noggin with a forepaw to show her displeasure. "Okay, okay," Jen says, getting up, and grabbing Bonka's reigns. "I'll do better next time. Just... take it slow, alright?" She pauses long enough to watch Kora and Cassie spar and she just grins, "/That/. I want to do /that/." Bonka doesn't look all that interested. All /she/ wants to do is just run. Well. Hop really fast.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I SEE YOU BROUGHT THE SMALL ONES, DIANA!" Donna's bellow carries out across the arena, despite the noise of kangas and excited kanga-appreciators. Less heavily accented than Diana but nevertheless significantly Themysciran still, the voice of the second of Hippolyta's ever-growing band of daughters, born or adopted, is distinctive. It's also distinctively loud, when she wants it to be. General Philippus would be proud. It's a lesser-known fact that Themysciran martial training takes as much interest in vocal projection as any stage school; a good warrior needs to be able to be heard clearly over the din of battle. Donna's voice carrying tactical notes over the field of battle has been a characteristic trait of the Titans' battles for years, one of the reasons she has to deny being the team leader quite regularly.

    Donna is not in the arena proper, but rather is striding down the stairs between banks of seats in the viewing area above, grinning down at the chaos of kanga and kangafan below, making her way to lean on the wall overlooking the arena floor. Unlike her fellow Amazons she does not appear to have elected to dress the role today, scandalously turning up dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt. "Trying not to scare the natives huh?" she asks, grinning.

    The kangas are BIG. She must be joking. On the other hand, those who looked closely at the aforementioned footage of the Cassie-lead kanga charge on the Warzoon army just outside Metropolis might suspect. Cassie, Kora and Diana know she's only half joking. These aren't particularly small kanga on the whole, but nor are they particularly large by kanga standards. Back on Themyscira there are some real monsters. The largest, heaviest, fiercest battle-trained kangas would not be easy to transport and might struggle to fit through the stable doors here at the arts center.

    Donna hops up onto the inner wall of the arena, sitting on it with her legs dangling over the edge to watch the action below, most specifically the battle between Kora and Cassie. "Knock her on her ass, Cassie!" she calls out. Immediately followed by "Show her how it's done, Kora!" Clearly Donna is rooting for both of them.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The subleties of Themysciran kanga-joust are no doubt lost on those more used to the NBA and NFL. To Diana, Donna and the other Amazons watching, there is no doubt much to see in the angle of the weapons, the relative speend and motion of the kanags (in three dimensions!), and the posture and 'stance' of the dueling riders. Needless to say, Amazons rarely miss, and at very close to the same moment, the thudding impact of the two blunt-lances against their armored targets can be heard. There are only small differences in where they hit: Cassie is struck in her shoulder as her drifting jump takes her slightly off center-line, Kora more center-on, into the armor covering her breastbone as rider and kanga land in a more braced position.

The impacts carry all the force and fury one would expect of the charging beasts. Cassie, for her part, twists in the saddle, thrown off center and swaying to one side of the creature, who leaps with the blow to diffuse some of the energy. Hoppa, notably, is the greater veteran of the pair, and her landing is angled to help stabilize her swaying rider, who uses the reins and stirrups alike to pull herself back from the edge and stabilize atop her mount.

They keep going just a few more bounces before skidding to a stop and then rotating around (tail maneuver!) to see how their foe has managed in the pass. "In a full tournament, there is complicated scoring, and if neither rider is dismounted, we would repeat passes until a victor could be declared. But just this should give you a bit of an idea of how a kanga can move in a fight. They're not the fastest creatures, but they can gain speed, stop, and change direction very well, and have a great deal of extra flexibility from their tails, which allow them to strike with their hind legs."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy watches the two go at each other in the joust and grins wide. That looks pretty cool to her, even if it isn't quiet her style. She strokes at Dolos' neck getting used to her perch upon the Kanga some. Then there is Jennifer's... unique dismount. She stands up in the stirrups to be sure the larger woman is okay until she hears laughter. "So you got fighting, you got racing." She considers Dolos' name and personality. Then looks to the jousting again as she starts to smile. Leaning forward Mercy does her best to cover her mouth and whisper to the creature.
    Mercy turns at the new voice to see who it is.
    Mercy doesn't go for a run, she doesn't go for the arena jousting area. She instead has Dolos just moving at a slow hop to get a feel for it. "Okay Dolos," Mercy says in a more open area. She does what she was told to try and get Dolos to move backward, seeing how it is done, watching the tail and how she moves. Then does a hop forward. She sees if she can get the Kanga to do a small hop left. Then a small hop right. Through most of it her eyes are intent on the seasoned riders, how they move, how they position. Studying them as best she can. Especially that tail maneuver.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes are on that of Bart, having seen him somehow make his Kanga mount run as fast as he is able to. "That is impressive!" She shouts out to him as he rides past along the track. She averts her eyes then to watch Cassie and Kora prepare for their battle, but she's not looking when it starts.

Her eyes go to Mercy, as the other Amazons in casual loose fit dresses are handing out the plant treats for those Kanga that are still close by. The women begin to say to Mercy that they have not been here for very long, most of them for less than a month now, having arrived shortly before Independence Day in fact. "We are bolstering our numbers here now, with permission from the Queen herself. She seems to be getting the idea that it is safe, and also a grand idea to have her people more acustom to the ways of the greater world outside of our own borders." She explains with a light smile chasing her words...

Of course, her attention is drawn toward Donna's arrival, she watching her casual dressed sister making her descent down the audience area, toward the wall where she perches. "Now now, do not get too cocky over there." She calls back. "You will assuredly end up having to face off against the winner of this joust, should you dare."

Along the running track, there are small jumps, and very tall jumps, for those riders brave enough to try and take their Kangas vertical now too, coming up out of the sands, by twisting golden spheres raising the long wooden beams up for the Kangas to have more obstacles to face against in their runs around the ARena floor.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen is never one to turn down a challenge, and he leans in to whisper something tot he Kanga, and with a reassuring noise from the beast they start the course about half way around it they hit another burst of speed, but again it is only a temporary thing. They do do like 3 laps of the course in that moment, but then it is normal speed again. After this is back over to the ladies with treats, and asks them for some food for Thunder. He will get off and start feeding the Kanga, who does seem to appreciate the food.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a jump at the bellow from Diana, having just gently let the white-and-black kanga she was astride hop along. That jump makes Kheimon buck again, giving a playful hop that nearly dislodges Phoeeb from the saddle again -- this time the mage holds on with her legs, and remains seated.

    She steers the kanga towards the running track, and she breathes out. Silent, but not to be outdone by Bart as Cassie and Kora face off in their own, Mercy taking a slow hop and all others in the class this evening, Phoebe grasps onto the saddle, her eyes narrowing, and she begins to urge the kanga to speed.

    She adapts to the movement easily, coming down and close to the Kanga's neck in a bug-boy crouch, holding tight with one hand as her other gently splays across the kanga's neck, her orange head-wrap trailing behind her like the tail of a fireball.

    She turns him, allowing him to skid in the sand, and he gives a sideways hop to again gently dump Phoebe into the sand, sticking his nose to her face and nibbling on the orange headwrap, as Phoebe laughs with not a sound coming out.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabitha leans down and with ear scritches of both hands. The arrival of Donna gets an eyebrow arched and then a look down at Roo-Dee. "You're still awesome and huge! You're probably way more nimble!" she says to the Kanga whose saddle Tabby's rump is straddled.

There's a hint more telepathy helping Tabby make sure she's understood and the Kanga knows they're cared for by the blonde in yellow jeans and a red jacket. Like a loudly dressed biker chick.

"So what happens if you accidentally hit your opponent's jousting partner? Armor is one thing but, tt still feels wrong even playfighting or sparring with these guys. Let alone risking them in a real fight. Putting ourselves in danger is one thing. Sorry if I'm seeming kinda excessively worried here." she keeps that leaning forwards to hug the Kanga beneath her. "Seen waaay too much animal abuse last month or so."

Bart's speedy friend making Roo-Dee hold off on doing the laps. There's showing off and then there is having to follow that act.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    The eager Mavros is as inexperienced as his rider. They stuck the landing a little too well, facing squarely into the lance speeding toward Kora's heart.

    Mavros rises into a bound just a kanga hair too late and Kora takes the lance below the sternum. Her teeth click together at the shock and Kora tastes copper in her mouth as she is nearly upended out of the saddle.

    Now, her back is to the ground as her mount springs into the air, the lance trailing behind her. Training saves her ass which she nearly handed to Cassie and she remains glued to Mavros and they pass Cassie before sliding into a turn to face off again.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna flashes a grin at Bart, who of course would not turn down the opportunity to meet a few kangas. He's seen a simulacrum of one before, Beast Boy giving a demonstration of what they looked like after having learned to mimic their form during his visit to Themyscira. However this is presumably the first time Bart would have had the opportunity to ride one. Asking Garfield for a ride would be a touch weird and might make Terry jealous. Kangas love to run, and Bart's mount has obviously been enjoying that extra burst of speed.

    "Kangas are sturdy creatures," Donna calls down a reply to Tabitha. "They leap at each other in mock combat, trying to knock the other senseless as part of their play. When it gets serious, they attempt to tear out each other's guts with their hind claws. Wild kangas are probably in more danger from each other than the ones we tame for battle are -- and we armor them well. They love the sparring. And yes, sometimes a kanga dies in battle, just as sometimes a horse does. They too are Themyscirans, and they fight alongside us in the causes for which we fight."

    Cassie and Kora get a nod of appreciation for their display, and Kora an additional wink of encouragement. She's a bit newer to all this than Cassie is, and Cassie has taken a special interest in Kanga-riding, after all!

    Diana's comment provokes Donna to stick her tongue out at her older sister. "Against the winner of this joust?" she asks, teasingly. "Why Diana, too scared to challenge me yourself?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy grins to the Amazons that talk to her, looking down at them with a more relaxed ease then she had earlier. "Well I think it's great. You ever want to trade tips for Kanga to tips on a VW or BMW I'm your girl. I can have you changing a tire in no time." She's sure most Amazons would be appalled at some of Mercy's upbringing and in truth hearing about woman solidarity is all good in her book. "Mad respect for any woman who can make a short skirt look that bad ass."
    The smell of blood is hard to miss sometimes and Mercy is looking to see how hurt Kora may be. Realizing that this seems to be normal for the Amazons. Tabby's voice concerned are met for a moment with a confused expression. Then she speaks in what may be out of turn. "I mean. Don't soldiers get beat up, hurt, and drilled. It seems cruel and all that. But it establishes reflexes that save lives, not risks them. This keeps them both safe is my guess. It's no more cruel in my eyes then pulling an abscessed tooth. Or letting a teenager touch a hot pot to learn 'fire burns' and stuff like that. They're survival skills." She hopes she didn't talk out of turn or upset anyone. Mercy never was good at shutting up or not saying her opinions.
    Honestly seeing Donna dressed a bit like Mercy helps the mechanic feel a bit less out of place. She's greeted with a wave. Then she glances as Diana gets called out in a way. "This is like the sorority house version of my childhood almost."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Hoppa sits back more upright, and Cassie's lance likewise; she grins across once Kora has regained composure and readied for her next pass, but shakes her head. "Just wanted to show these folks a little of what it's about, we can save your BRUTAL training regimen for later." Yes there is definitely a sense that Cassie enjoys finally not being the noob Amazon a little too much...

She also looks over toward Tabitha. "Uh.... I think YOU guys will need a few more sessions getting used to just, you know, forward, backward, all that jazz, before we have any of you start jousting. And, well, yeah, we're super-durable so there's a bit of leeway, we'd be taking a lot more safety measures for anyone who wants to learn who isn't. But it's not like normal humans didn't do this too, on horses and stuff. We teach other classes on armored combat, so you can take one of those to get used to wearing and fighting in gear, then when you're ready, maybe move on up to some of this..."

Here, she leans forward, using Hoppa's neck to support herself a bit, grinning at Mercy's observation. "But yeah, we train pretty rough, human, native Amazon, meta, or otherwise. It's ultimately all about the spirit, you know? Being an Amazon is a state of mind, a lifestyle. And it's something we're eager to teach and spread, a bit."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana leans forward on her saddle then, and crosses her arms together over the grip of Jumpa's harness. She looks over to Cassie and Kora, seeing Kora drop, but knowing the young Amazon will rise up again. She smiles then, hearing Donna call her out, which has the Princess looking over to her little sister. She casts a grin toward her.

"Is that what you came here for?" She asks back over the ambient noises of all the controlled chaos around them. As Bart just goes zipping around the Perimeter with Thunder-Kanga, and everyone else is continuing to settle in to their own new friend.

"Well. You best get yourself ready then, Miss Troia." The Princess says back to the other, as she straightens up again on her own mount, reaching forward to stroke the back of Jumap's head who thusly leans his head back to accept Diana's petting lovings with a whimpering little Kooing noise coming out of his mouth.

"But... yes. We are not looking to make such new riders face off against such dangers here tonight. Soon? Well... that depends on how quickly, and eagerly, you all choose to continue this kind of training here at the Arts Center. We certainly do hope to see such interest in our offerings."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
R    The Healer pokes her head over the monching kanga, and then removes her hair wrap so that the white kanga's distracted by taste testing it. She looks up to Diana and Donna, and to the other Amazons and friends as she looks at the jousters, and determining that no one needs her attention at just this moment -- else someone might have called, Phoebe just breathes out, looking up to the black-pointed kanga, and she ruffles at his cheeks as he eats her scarf. Good kanga, listening to Diana's challenge to Donna. Well, this should be interesting!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby had seen Australian Wildlife documentaries enough that normal Kangaroos can get nasty. So the blonde nods and gets an idea of what Donna is referring to.

"I am probably literally the squishiest thing here. But when I fight I choose it. And I enjoy it sometimes." Tabby will admit about herself, everyone else here is well more able to handle an attack. Through durability, speed, reflexes, or healing. It took some time to become any ind of fighter.

"I'm immune to fire and heat." she adds and sparks a little plasma on her index fingertip before reabsorbing it.

"I just don't like forcing anyone to fight for me." she states. "With me yes. But that's a choice." her Kanga friend gets a hug. "Roo-Dee and I kinda have an understanding. He thinks I need more ride training first too. " she says with a shrug.

"Cassie, those knights jousting on horseback. They would have treated anyone not a noble man. Like chattel. Including us. Part of wmy Themyscira appeals so much! If everyone can choose to fight willingly. I can..." and Tabby pats Roo-Dee's shoulders. "I can live with it." to the point she's blocking out a lot of the more negative thoughts probnably coming from somne of the other Amazons around the place. Trying anyway.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
    Kora and Mavros lope back to Cassie, a big smile illuminating the young woman's face. Her mount grumbles as though ready to go again, her rider might be less willing to put on a spectacle and she reins him back.

     Kora's smile goes up a notch in intensity at the words BRUTAL. When she is along side Cassie, she salutes her with a hand across her heart, "You nearly had me, Cassie, an inch higher and I would have been face down in sand. I hope we I have the chance to train with you again!"

TThen with a nod, she urges Mavro's forward, patting him on the neck, "Treat time!" They angle for the waiting baskets.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will ask the ladies where the stable or such is for the Kangas, and will take Thunder on there to brush him, and take care of him. They may find it odd for someone who is not used to this, takes time to make sure all Thunder's rest is taking care of even doing it all at normal speed. He is in there talking to Thunder "Yea is a new trick, I am learning but if speed does to you like it does to use your going to need extra food, and Bart does make sure the Kanga has that as well. He lets the others continue on but he takes his time to tend to the Kanga, and if there is a stable master type there he asks for info on how he can better care for Thunder.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "Well I can't speak for Amazons obviously," she says to Cassie. "But I do get that mindset better then most. I'm Mercy by the way. I met Diana recently when fixing her cabriolet. She was kind enough to tell me about this little event and no way I was going to pass it up." Her being more social is a chance for Dolos to try and do a double hop to one side in order to unseat Mercy, but her reflexes proof strong enough to avoid that fate. Again.
    "Wait. Did you just claim the 'squishiest' then in the next breath say 'oh I can not be set on fire or burned?'" The idea of that making Mercy laugh a bit. "That's a good one," unable to enjoy the humor from her point of view. Some are shifting to do their own thing more, but for the most part Mercy is just trying to stay mounted and near the hosts as they talk. Making sure to never stand too still or else Dolos may get bored.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe snaps loudly and points to Mercy's commentary as Tabitha claims she's squishy.

    -She's right- she signs, not really expecting anyone to understand, and then points purposefully at MErcy, and then gives a Thumbs up.

    She hops up to the side of the arena, and the kanga she definitely did not bond with and absolutely wants nothing more to do with in spite of the fact that she is scritching between the ears and letting it eat her headwrap gives a happy sound, and rests its head in her lap. Definitely not ever becoming friends. Doomed.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Seeing that D&D are starting up their Amazon trash talk, Cassie promptly sets Hoppa to boing-boing-boing away to the sideline over nearer Mercy. Making room for the boomerzons!

Hop, hop, hop.

Eventually, she makes her way clear, seemingly content to populate the sidelines and watch. Tabitha's historic perspective provokes a somewhat dumbstruck, "Uh," as an eloquent initial reaction, as Cassie processes it. "Sure, I guess? Wasn't really what I was getting at. I just meant that mortal humans are perfectly capable of surviving this stuff if you stick them in a tin can first. They have, like, lady Renaissance faire re-enactor people and everything, nowadays! They even have one in the city, you know? Up near the Cloisters. With jousting and like, falconers, mead, and giant turkey legs and everything." A very, uh, representative list.

"Cassie," she echoes Mercy. "Oh, you do cars? That's cool! I should bring you mine. Di actually got it for me as a present, but, like, my fast-lane heroic lifestyle can be kinda rough on it, you know? Once I got locked in the trunk!" It's a weird story to share!

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods at Mercy, and points at her too. "Exactly so. The kangas -- all the animals we train for war -- they are part of our society. They are treated well, loved, and honored, and like us they are trained to fight when it is necessary to do so. Those who do not have the temperament for such activities, we do not force to do them. Those who do: we encourage, we armor, and we train. They are not weapons, or vehicles, they are our partners, our shield-brothers and spear-sisters."

    "As my sisters say, nobody should be thinking about trying to fight on kanga-back before you are very conversant in riding one. It would be embarrassing if you fall out of the saddle before you could be knocked out." Donna beams a wide grin. "But those of you who are having fun, I'm sure we can get you to a point where you can try some of the basics out after only a few sessions. We can use padded lances, don't worry. But basics first. Phoebe? Believe it or not, you've got a knack. But next time, stand up a little more in the stirrups. You need to have your center of gravity more forwards for a kanga, so you can rock with the motion."

    Donna raises an eyebrow at Diana, and gives her an amused smirk. "I just came to watch," she replies. "But if you want..." she gives a shrug, but her smirk widens. "Proper mock battle rather than lancing? Spears? If we've got the armor, I'm game. Khionis is still back home but I'm sure one of these guys can give Jumpa challenge.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy will give Phoebe a friendly thumbs up and smile back. She doesn't know sign language sadly. She will point to the headwrap that is being eaten just in case the woman somehow doesn't know but won't voice any concern.
    Once Cassie has come over she nods her head, "I'm a mechanic yes. Mostly German make cars and the older the better. I hadn't worked on anything as new as Diana's in a while. But I'm not too far away, just across the park and into Harlem." She laughs at the trunk lock joke. "You tell me the model I'll likely be able to tell how to get out of the trunk. There's lots of ways to chat that and newer models actually have features to stop people from being trapped back there. Nice job out there impressed me a lot. This Kanga stuff has to be great for the glutes and thighs."
    "If anyone here can understand pairings and group dynamics it's probably me, uhh... Miss Troia was it?" She's still learning names and truth be told Mercy uses her nose for that as much as other things. This arena has a LOT of scents out here right now as well. It isn't making it easy for her. "So I take it back home means the island these animals all came from?" Worried about sitting still she asks the experienced women, "How do you brace for the landing on a higher jump without breaking your butt?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is just all grins toward Donna, before she just shakes her head gently. "We will save it for an advanced combat class, should we get enough students who can make it that far. Plus, I would prefer you have your faithful friend here, so as not to blame it upon whichever Kanga you would use here and now, when you inevitably are put down upon the sand." She adds that last part, just to get the fun dig in, and the continued grinning shows it.

Diana rides Jumpa around the track some then, before she shows off with a bit of jumping, thus his name! The Kanga leaps up on to some of the various hurdles, using their bases to lunge from one to the next before the skiful animal, and rider, end up landing beside where Cassie is, with a thud of Jumpa's feet in the sand, sending a wave of sand over Hoppa and Cassie, a playful trick that the Amazons tended to do to one another when they could get the 'jump' on each other during Kanga training.

Diana turns then to face the others. "Is everyone enjoying themselves, I hope? If this is not for you, I would understand also. We just wish to let you have a chance to experience what we do back home."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is fully aware that the white kanga is munching on her scarf gently, but she gives another thumbs up to Mercy with a grin, giving a playful tug of the orange wrap -- the Kanga does not want to give it up. At Donna's recognition of having a knack for riding, though, her sunken eyes go a little wide, and she sinks down behind the kanga's head, hiding her embarrassment at being called out for something good. Somewhat because their last conversation didn't go too well.

    And Phoebe watches Diana from between the 'roo's ears, bashfully hiding herself down.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Hey. I can still be shot, stabbed, beaten, bludgeoned. Bitten. Kicked, clawed. Etcetera." Tabitha points out to Mercy with a grin. "And I can still blow myself up with my own power... This padding covering my rack only does so much!" The image of Tabitha rocket propelling herself via her own explosions to clock Booster Gold across the arena is probably still fresh in some memories. "I have no healing factors either. telepathy can make someone think I am but the universe decided that should be the next step after plasmakinesis instead of inate durability." she points out. The universe can be funny sometimes.

"I'm Tabitha! Boom-Boom if you catch me on the hero thing." she states and offers a cheery introduction. "I got Twenty says Donna comes out on top. Also. I should remember to bring home some Dinosaur leg next time I'm at the Savage Land. Or make one of my friends bring it. Tyrannosaurus legs are heavy. But taste like turducken ish I bet. Bet brontosaurus burgers taste like pork."

Donna gets a smirk again. "That didn't stop your sisters with the kanga Snacks picturing me getting trampled and other stuff!"

Back to Mercy and Cassie. "Depending on the make, you just go through the back seat usually. Upholstery, locks and bodywork can be fixed can be fixed and as someone who has been locked in many a trunk as a kid. If it's not your car or choice, screw the car." she points out and makes another flicker of purple plasma glow in her hands before poofing away without a BOOM.

"Never blame the Kanga!" she yells! "Even if they throw you off deliberately cause it's!" which is exactly what Roo-Dee does and launches Tabitha up with a push of it's very powerful hind legs but no actual jump. Clearly he waited for Tabby to unstirrup her feet and up and up she goes. "FUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNYYYYYY!" she yells mid flight.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Hopefully Cassie's not going to have to worry about getting locked in trunks any more," Donna says, grinning at the younger Amazon. "That was not exactly a normal situation. On a normal day, Cassie would have no difficulty punching her way out of the trunk of a tank. And then throwing the tank across the park and into Harlem, where you could fix up the damage for her."

    "And that's just Troia, no Miss needed. It's my first name. My only name, really. But I go by Donna Troy most of the time in America, people here find that less confusing. Apparently outside of Themyscira you're only allowed to have a single name if you're a rock musician or a Brazilian soccer player. And... good question. When your kanga is leaping, you need to move with it. Lean into the acceleration, then rise up in the stirrups, keeping your knees slightly flexed. The Kanga's own legs take a lot of the impact, but yours have to do some of the work, too."

    The grin-war with Diana continues. "Looking for excuses already, Diana? It's no problem for me. I don't mind you having a more familiar mount, just makes it fairer." Them's fighting words! No, it's just her own dig. "And I'm sure everyone would be happy to see a demonstration match, it's not like we'd be expecting them to join in."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Nah, it's a Mazda. So uh, Japanese I guess. Little sport-y thing," Cassie explains. As for trunk safety features? "I was tied up too." She leaves out one further embarassing detail! "Normally, that'd be no big deal cause-" And here, Donna chimes in with exactly the same thinking. "Yeah, right. Super-strength and all that. Normally I'd go through the body of a car like that like cardboard. But you see there was this evil doppleganger of me from another dimension and she'd tricked my mom into turning off my powers."

It really IS quite a story.

"Annnnnyway, yeah, ended up someone had to break the lock and get me out. The damage from that I already got fixed, but, yaknow, that's just kind of a preview of the kind of wear-and-tear I put on it. Plus I'm kind of a crazy driver!" The latter is probably far MORE the reason, given that she's not exactly driving the car into battle. As demonstrated, she has a kanga for that!

She ruffles Hoppa a little, who gives a happy chuff.

...before they both get sprayed with sand. COUGH. "Ugh! Di!" she groans, looking over at her mentor somewhat balefully. "Go play with Donna!"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana just has to grin at Cassie's reaction before she lifts her chin up just a little bit toward her protege. She moves her eyes past Cassie, to Mercy. "She is one of the young ones I mentioned, who is not very good to vehicles... You very likely will get some work from her sooner rather than later." The Princess teases as she pulls on Jumpa's reigns. The Kanga starts to walk casually now, turning as it starts forward once more.

"All in due time... dear sister." Diana says to Donna, as she guides Jumpa toward the scarf eating snowy colored Kanga. "All in due time, I am sure of it." She adds before she pulls up beside where Phoebe is.

"Having fun?" She asks Phoebe now, reaching out to stroke a hand over the neck of the Kanga that the young woman had chosen to ride, or try to ride anyway. "I saw you take a big fall a bit ago. Wasn't too bad, was it?" She inquires then, as her eyes scan over the others all congregating around the snack area, as that is inevitably where most Kangas always head toward, at some point!

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Unable to resist joining in, when Diana gets the dirt/sand splash on Cassie, Dolos feels the need to thump her tail with a side motion to send some at both the amazons. Mercy just sneezes and rubs at her nose a bit.
    She finds Phoebe's reactions and (not) totally-no-there-at-all bond with her Kanga rather sweet and it makes her smile. Even as she rubs at her nose some more. "Hi Tabitha. I'm Mercy, no nick name sadly. Just Mercy, which now that I think of it is actually a nickname for my full name. And I can be all that and set on fire or heat exhaustion. So sorry, not sorry, but I think squishiest can't go to you if I'm still here." Nodding to Tabitha, "She's right. If it's life or body work on a car. Smash the car. Someone like me can probably fix it." Though she flinches as Tabitha gets unseated.
    As Donna goes on to laud Cassie's merits she can't help but feel outclassed. Fortunately that is a feeling she's used to. "Troia then. Nice to meet you and I just used what I heard earlier. I can't exactly say 'you the attractive tall Amazon woman from a magical island' now can I?" She motions to all of the people around her who fit that description.
    "I can't help you as much with anything from Japan, that's a bit outside my area. But glad you made it just the same. Awe inspiring strength or no." Shaking her head with a smile, "the lives you all must live. Here I thought my little life was fun and exciting already." Mercy has to add, "My version of super strength comes after working on cars with no power steering or brakes for two weeks." Cue unimpressive arm flex. Especially with someone like Jennifer around.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a small smile as Diana pulls up, and Kheimon gives a happy sounding snort, snacking on the orange scarf and just getting it wet with kanga drool so that it's utterly unusable for its normal purpose.

    Phoebe, shorn-headed and looking embarrassed looks up to Diana as her shoulders rise up, her fingers curling about Kheimon's cheeks again to scritch him as his head goes back to chilling with his head in her lap, and she gives a small shrug, and waggles her hand back and forth, before giving a bright smile to Diana, relaxing a little bit. It was always easy to be intimidated by the Princess.

    She points to her own throat, and then mimics something being pulled from it, as an explaination for her silence.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
As Tabitha comes down, she BOOM's mid air twice. Sure she's probably guessing what cassie left out and has probably nothing but commiserations cause odds are she's been right there. Willing, unwilling and between.

The first BOOM changes her trajectory. She's not landing on people or Kangas. The second is when she's closer to the ground, the boom enough to slow the landing enough that it just looks rough. And sure enough there's groans and bumps and Tabby rolling. At least she's had practice at that. But she might need some ice later on on her back and shot.

"What the hell is a Saddle Rabbit?" she says and squints. "Oh that's much better!" she says and seems a little relived and embarrassed at the same time. There's giggles from some of the Kanga Wranglers.

"Evil clones suck. Done that way too much. It is not cathartic!" she states and walks back to Roo-Dee. "You're lucky you're adorable and can kick my ass!" she ain't even mad as she resaddles her now dusty and dirty backside on her friend. "Still betting Twenty on Troia. How many names you got? Sure I'm on seven but they all suck."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I once helped Robin clean his bike after he got ambushed in Gotham by the Condiment King," Donna says to Mercy. "Getting mustard out of a radiator was a huge challenge. Take it from me, I have the greatest respect for anyone who can fix vehicles. A good car mechanic definitely has super-powers."

    The interplay between Cassie and Diana has Donna grinning wide, especially because she's up on the wall surrounding the arena and out of range of any sand-flinging. "It's no good Cassie, Diana's clearly set on not meeting my challenge when there would be witnesses. Never mind, I'll get her later. And if you think about it, you'd have hated having to punch a hole in your Mazda, so it all worked out for the best."

    "On the other hand, try not to give Mercy too much business. Kangas are good for battle, but it may be ill-advised to ride one around the streets of Manhattan during rush hour. Maybe we should talk about some alternative form of transport for you to use when you're car's in the shop."

    "Just the two," Donna tells Tabitha. "Superhero code name, real name. Pretty standard. It's just that they're kind of the other way around than most people expect. Donna Troy is my code name, Troia is my secret identity." Obviously not that secret! "You got me beat on seven."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana watches Phoebe make that hand gesture, then she looks down to see the scarf being scarfed. This makes her show a slight frown. She reaches a hand out then to the young woman to place it upon her shoulder. "Are you have some kind of issues?" She asks then. "You know that I am always here to help, if so." She tells the other again, having had similar conversations with her in the past, though it has been awhile!

She shows her a soft smile and reaches that same hand up then to pat the side of her head behind the ear, affectionately before she draws her hand back again. "And now I owe you a new scarf." She says with a little laugh coming after those words are spoken.

Jumpa is, of course, now leaning over to gnaw on the side of the other Kanga's neck, playfully cleaning the other that is eating Phoebe's scarf.

Diana's eyes go up to watch Tabitha, then sees the return down to the ARena again. "Hopefully Tabitha is not in the process of starting a stampede." She says, now with a smirk following her joke there.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe opens her mouth, and then just gives a pained expression to Diana, and a nod, her eyes dropping down, and then at the idea of owing her a new scarf, Phoebe waves her arms in a 'no no no' fashion so hard that she loses her balance, and again falls into the seating area of the arena accompanying the booms. There's a grunt after impact, and then a lone hand giving a 'thumbs up' over the side, before it falls back over.

    Kheimon looks over at her, and then returns to getting that scarf as drool-filled as possible, making happy sounds at Jumpa's affection.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy laughs at Diana answering an unasked question Mercy was wondering, "Well if she ever messes up the cabriolet of yours bring it in. I'll fix it up again." She looks over at Phoebe when Diana joins her. This lets her see the woman's gesture about her lack of voice. "Wish I knew sign," Mercy won't apologize. She's sure that Phoebe doesn't want apologies and is used to this situation.
    @emit
    Mercy laughs at Diana answering an unasked question Mercy was wondering, "Well if she ever messes up the cabriolet of yours bring it in. I'll fix it up again." She looks over at Phoebe when Diana joins her. This lets her see the woman's gesture about her lack of voice. "Wish I knew sign," Mercy won't apologize. She's sure that Phoebe doesn't want apologies and is used to this situation.
    The BOOM demands Mercy's immediate attention and she manages to not flinch. They're impressive to watch, and cleverly used. She assumes. The sound still makes Mercy glad she had her mouth open a bit from talking and is outside.
    "No super powers Troia. Just secret words we teach our apprentices to break stubborn bolts that have rusted to the frame. Don't you go telling people to not give me business now. I may be squishy but I'm sure I can fight dirty," mockingly threatening the Amazon. "Even if I'm doing really good this year so far."
    It's about that time that Mercy has been too focused on the people and forgot about her Kanga, that got bored just standing there mostly. With almost no warning, she crouches and leaps high into the air. Mercy giving a yelp of surprise as the beast bounds in a beautiful bow trying to leap over Cassie to land on the other side with a loud slap of her tail. Mercy starts to fall off but squeezes with her thighs and end up taking the full 'hit' of the landing on her butt and legs. She didn't get unseated at least. But she still gives a soft grown, "Ow. I'm in mourning for my ass."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Tabitha Smith. Boom-Boom currently. Boomer, Time Bomb, Firecracker, Meltdown, Doctor Madame McSplode." she says and counds on her fingers. "That's five codenames. My Bee!" she states. "My maff sucks, I literally just graduated highschool last year. at Twenty!" she says with a chuckle. "In hindsight. I loved Genosha till ya know but maybe I should jave emigrated to Themyscira instead." she says with a chuckle. "May take a Vacay soon though!" she ponders. "Get an even better feel for life among the Amazons!" she considers and mmmm with maybe a nibble of her lower lip. There's more pats to Roo-Dee while she has the Kanga behaving again.

"We'll miss that ass. It was a spectacular ass! loved by all!" she says in a mock solemness. Gotta respect!

There's some mental chatting to Keep the Kanga from jumping and chasing his friends but eventually she has to say good by and let Roo-Dee get stabled up with more foods and brushing and stuff.