[Animal Speech] You can handle Broadside yourself

You hadn't studied the ways of bull-riders, but you had studied the ways of the druids. They probably didn't know much about bull-riding either, but what they did know was how to communicate in the language of beasts. You'd absorbed all of that. If you could communicate with the angry bull, perhaps you could strike a deal with it or at least calm it down a bit, allowing you to survive two minutes on its back.

"There we are, yeehaw! Yer the man for the challenge, huh? Let's see how long you can last on ol' Broadside! I'll bring him over and we'll get ya sit-cheeated up on that big back of his."

The bull-breeder took a step over towards the rickety, makeshift fence, then began swatting the inside of it with his hand. It struck you that this gestures seemed to be agitating the bull, rather than making it docile for the sake of allowing you to mount it. Still, it did eventually circle its way over, leaning its slobbery jaw over the side of the fence in your direction.

As the breeder prepared a saddle, you worked to get your answers from the horse's mouth, as the expression went. You spoke in a whisper, asking it to tell you what was ailing it. Perhaps you could help to calm it.

The bull gave a snort of derision, then answered. It wasn't exactly like communicating with another human-- you received phrases in a jumbled soup and had to decipher them yourself.

"Unfamiliar." "Stranger. "Name." "Broadside." "Wrong." "Nelson." "Right." "Stolen." "Angry." "Furious." "Trample." "Trainer." "Imposter."

You thought you were getting somewhere. It sounded like the creature wasn't aimlessly upset. It was this situation. This was no bull bred for bull-riding shows in the city-- he had been taken from somewhere. And as for the thief... he was likely the bandana-wearing man right next to you. It could be that the highwayman getup the guy had on was less of a costume and more his every-day wear.

You let the bull know you were going to help. He gave a begrudging snort of acknowledgment. From here, to placate the bull, you wore a look of derision towards the so-called trainer. This would let Nelson know that you were on his side, even if everyone else seemed untrustworthy.

Otherwise, you kept your cards close to your chest. For now, you'd play along with the game-- this was also a mission for you to show off and grab Mympho's attention, after all. Nelson was willing to play his part, allowing you onto his back with no further struggle. You mounted him, {if Flashy Costume = True}trying to ignore how your costume's bizarre skirt showed off a lot of your thighs in the process{else}now wishing you'd chosen the breezier outfit for the sake of getting limber during this upcoming physical challenge{endif} and squaring your legs on either side of his broad body. When the trainer slapped the side again, Nelson began to kick and snarl, raising a cloud of dust and garnering gasps from the growing audience.

As you gripped his mane with both hands, you begged him in the language of the druids to take it easy on you!

He snorted again, but complied, bucking a bit more tamely now.

Still, the ride seemed to last not a mere two minutes, but something closer to an hour, for you. You appreciated that the bull had made it realistic, but your hands were sore and your ass was killing you now.

"Well I'll be, partner! Ya actually did it! Guess anybody can get lucky."

Wearing a no-nonsense frown, you told him that now that this was over and he'd drawn a sizable audience of witnesses around, you thought it was about time he came clean.

"Pardon? I told ya up front, there ain't no reward even if ya last two minutes. It's all just wavin' yer dick around."

It seemed he was still playing dumb. You decided to cut to the chase, telling him that if he didn't let Nelson go back to his original owner, there was another shape the rest of the night could take: him, participating in a running of the bulls, as you unsuccessfully chased and attempted to apprehend a charging bull. One that you'd look the other way on as it ran him out of town.

The guy scratched at his bandana, disbelieving for a moment. "What's that? Are you sayin'... you and this bull are gonna work together to chase me outta town?"

You nodded.

For a second, he curled his lip, still disbelieving... Then he turned his eyes to Nelson's face. The big bull snorted and scratched the dirt with one hoof, daring him to keep the ruse going.

"Y-Ya know what, pardner... I think ya might be right. I-I don't think this is my bull after all. I-I mixed mine up somewhere! Yeah, I can get this bull home..."

You smiled, then let Nelson know the positive outcome. It nodded, seeming pleased, and let you know that if you ever showed up at his ranch, he'd treat you to another ride. He seemed to have a pretty mistaken impression about how much you'd enjoyed that part of the scheme. At any rate, you'd drawn a very positive reaction from the crowd-- the cheers made you confident about your progress in grabbing Mympho's eye. Your saintesses seemed equally surprised at this rare showing of the unique talent you'd cultivated.{if Helmid = True}

"Oh my! I had no idea you were so handy with animals, squire. I guess that bull and you do share some similarities, hm hm. Fine breeding stock." It was amazing how shameless she managed to be with the adrenaline of the bull-ride still affecting her.{endif}{if Amulette = True}

"A bull boldly broken!" Amulette cheered, clapping her hands together. "No need for me to nurse you from a necrotic state with my nifty necromancy, hm?" You were certainly happy for that.{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

"Now let us see if there is another large beast for you to ride, Lavender Vin! Perhaps an elephant! And later tonight, the sex, yes?" Bangaal giggled, floating around you in a circle. You declined the elephant ride and privately wondered if you'd still have the energy for the other part.{endif}{if Rosary = True}

"Oh, my word! I was praying as hard as I could and it seems Geod heard our prayers! How fortunate!" Rosary sighed with relief. Privately, you wondered if warriors of the church ever got tired of the pretty clergywomen all attributing their heroic deeds to some higher power.{endif}{if Liens = True}

Liens hid her look of surprise almost instantly, resetting to her usual scowl. "Hm. Those druids. Something else. I can't even communicate with animals. With all my technology. You do it without even prayers. Or magic. It's amazing. Everyone should learn to do it. I should learn to do it," she mused, lowering her head with a thoughtful frown. "Hm. Yes. I'll learn. Later." You didn't know whether you ought to be insulted that she was acting like the skill you'd spent years of your schooling cultivating could be picked up that easily.{endif}{if Belit = True}

"Well... Yeah. That's what I was going to do too," Belit grumbled, crossing her arms. "But I'm just glad you helped out that bull. I hate to see people be cruel to animals."{else}

Later, you'd recount the story to Belit and get her tacit approval as well. A friend to animals, Belit loved a story with a happy ending for the creatures of the earth, especially a story that puts a scoundrel like this one in his place. The warm reception of your wives would prove yet another perk of your druidic studies.{endif}