Heather Wells, Human

Heather wandered up and down the stables just outside the arena set up for the Conjoinment Dash. The event didn't officially start until next week, but contestants were given plenty of time from the start of the rodeo to check out the allied bodies to conjoin with in order to participate in the event.

Heather herself was a fairly athletic girl. While she usually spent her time on the family farm helping keep the cattle in check, she spent a lot of time riding the countryside with her friends on horseback. For someone who competed in a conjoinment competition, having experience riding other animals can be a significant benefit, learning the gaits and rhythms of beings much larger than herself. It was her third year competing in a conjoinment-style event, and while the first two years didn't end with a trip to the finals, she felt good about this year. She tucked some of her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ears, popping some bubblegum as she wandered along the stables with a critical eye.

To be fair, the 'stables' weren't really like what one might expect at a county fair or on a ranch. These were all sentient beings, capable of communication and emotion and were typically at least somewhat educated. This was important, as the BCR decided early on that it was important for beings to be able to consent to a conjoinment contest. Losing control of a conjoined half of a body, especially to a dangerous beast, could endanger other participants. So, while the BCR called it the stables, it was more like a pleasant lounge, with sized-up furniture to fit some truly massive beings.

While size wasn't everything when looking for a partner to conjoin with, Heather knew it helped. There were plenty of exotic shapes, like insectoid or arachnid bodies that were typically light and durable, but the last thing Heather wanted was to trip on trying to manage eight legs. Since she was the competitor, it was expected that she'd take control of the shared body to guide it to victory. She was to be the jockey of the combination, essentially, and she needed something she could manage.

There were plenty of other form to look at--large octopus-alien beings were an interesting choice, but again the limbs were a significant trouble. Heading toward quadrupeds, there was some serious stability in having four dedicated legs. Heather had something else in mind, though... as she stopped in front of a massive, muscular feline woman, a shorthair with arms and legs rippling with power, a sizable and no doubt powerful core, and a very cute and pettable cat head if it weren't so far off the ground and out of reach. The cat-woman was busy reading a newspaper, sipping some coffee while she waited to be paired up with someone. Once she noticed Heather out of the corner of her eye, she lowered her newspaper a little to get a better look at the human before her.

"I've seen you," the cat-woman says in a deep, but still distinctly feminine, voice. "You competed last year? You were conjoined with a lizard, were you not?"

Heather silently cursed herself. She didn't expect to be remembered last year for her conjoinment to an alien species that looked similar to a chameleon on her home planet. She made the mistake of letting other contestants get into her head and pick a conjoinment that was out of her comfort zone in order to take advantage of the natural grip the alien body had for climbing. Alas, she didn't have enough time to learn how the suction cups worked last year, and more often than not ended up stuck to the ground, stopping her from picking up momentum on the open straightaways of the course.

Still, Heather nodded. "I tried something last year, it didn't work. I'm looking to go more traditional this year--strong body, good at jumping, won't require basking on a hot rock an hour before a race..."

The cat-woman laughed a little, setting down her paper. "The rules of the race state I am not to decline if you ask me to be your conjoined body. You make all of the decisions for how to conjoin, and how to approach using our combined body. But I have been in similar contests, where my partner, so to speak, was not prepared to utilize my abilities and strength to its fullest. When they couldn't handle it, I fought for control, and their unwillingness to share our movements led to our own downfalls. What say you to this?"

Heather remained quiet for a moment. She'd seen this super-sized feline species compete before, and it definitely felt like the conjoined partners were afraid to use the body to its fullest--even with all the strength of one super-sized body, there was still going to be a much more frail being attached to it the whole time, and that can easily lead to very dangerous situations with one bad step or false move. A fall or crash at too high a speed might be survivable only by one part of the conjoinment...

"I say that it's my job to know the course and to guide a body through it, but if there are moments that I can't trust the other part of my conjoinment to move for the benefit of both of us, then I'd picked the wrong event to compete in."

The cat-woman leaned back in her chair, smiling down at Heather a little more as she listened. "You may call me Bazera. I am not convinced you can handle controlling me. But, we have a week before the first course, and perhaps if you wished to try moving us for twenty-four hours, I would consider trusting you as well if you demonstrate bravery."