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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 17:00:07 GMT -6
Sure enough, he was off after it like a bullet from a gun. He leapt nimbly over the tires, bouncing off of the tops of them, his legs careening from side to side while his head and horns stayed level. Fiera thought he was about to run into a hurdle, but instead he leapt up at the last moment, his hooves tapping off of the top of it so he could leap artfully over the other side. He landed on the other side and returned to his journey without hesitation. In just a couple seconds he had reached the treat, still flying through the air- and caught it before it hit the ground. Fiera couldn't help but give a whoop of satisfaction. Mango turned his head to look at her, still chewing. She smiled and waved him back over- they had done enough for today. At least now she could rest easy about his fancy footwork.
Fiera 5 Mango 74.0/26.0 Dexterity 15
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 19:42:02 GMT -6
It was time to train another one of Mango's capabilities. Fiera and her repointe felt like old pros at this by this point, but she knew full well that he still had a lot of room for improvement. They had gotten the rhythm of their trainings down, yes. There was little about the gym that scared him by now, and he seemed to know how to use the training tools well. Fiera knew the layout of this place like the back of her hand. But sometimes Fiera would be training Mango a new trick or attack and would watch him move and would know that there was still room for improvement. Perhaps Mango knew it too, and that was why he didn't put up a fuss about it. Either way, they kept coming back here again and again so he could learn more. Or perhaps 'learn' wasn't the right word- develop was. Fiera 6 Mango 74.1/26.1 Stamina 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 19:50:58 GMT -6
Regardless, they were here again and Fiera knew exactly what she was going to teach. She had taught Mango everything there was to know about dexterity- about dodging and weaving, about sheer speed. They were both things that repointe naturally excelled at, that he naturally excelled at, but they weren't all there was to know about running. Mango could easily dash in, deal a devastating blow, and dash out, but Fiera knew he could only do that a few times before he got exhausted. FIERA could outlast him, and she was no spring chicken- though she wouldn't admit that to anyone's face. At the end of the day, if another creature just waited long enough for Mango to wear himself out, they could run circles around him, and then where would he be? To summarize, Fiera needed to improve Mango's stamina if he was ever going to survive, so that was what they had come to do.
Fiera 7 Mango 74.2/26.2 Stamina 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 19:54:45 GMT -6
The check in process was a breeze by this point. The person who worked the front desk positively adored Mango. It made sense- he was a very sweet repointe, and a very beautiful creature in general. His soft fur was a wonder to pet, and his colorful eyes were beautiful to stare into. Fiera gave them a moment as she filled out the paperwork. It wasn't much, but they always had trainers sign a waiver when they came in, no matter how long they had been training there- making sure no one sued if they decided to use a piece of equipment designed for a creature several hundred pounds smaller than the one they tried to use it on, so on and so forth. It was tedious, but Fiera supposed she could understand the reasoning. Soon she was done with it though, and she snapped her fingers for Mango to follow.
Fiera 8 Mango 74.3/26.3 Stamina 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:02:45 GMT -6
Mango sadly pulled his head out of the hands of the desk worker and followed after Fiera. He soon perked up again when he realized what direction they were going in. The interior of the gym was split up into multiple wings, each with the intention of training a different area of a creatures' capabilities. Some areas were also specialized for specific types of creature, such as flying or aquatic beasts. The wing they were going into was one normally used for training dexterity, which Mango quite enjoyed. Today though, Fiera wanted to focus less on how fast he could run for and more how long he could run for, and there was a few good ways of doing that. She passed by the different rooms, glancing at the machinery inside until she found the one she wanted. She pushed open the door, revealing what looked like a strange but familiar series of machines.
Fiera 9 Mango 74.4/26.4 Stamina 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:06:47 GMT -6
They were treadmills, like the kind you'd find in any gym. At first, one might mistake them for human treadmills, but even a cursory inspection proved that that was not the case. They were much wider than your standard treadmill for one, and more heavily built- no doubt designed and tested for creatures as heavy as a thundergug to climb on them and test their speed. The controls were on the wrong side as well. They were designed so a trainer could turn the speed up and down, and of course chances were the trainer wasn't going to be running alongside their creature on top of the treadmill. Other than that though, the controls were clearly defined and easy to use, with a big red emergency stop button in case anything went wrong. It was difficult to mess up, and the whole thing had an air of being impossible to break.
Fiera 10 Mango 75.0/27.0 Stamina 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:15:32 GMT -6
Luckily, that wasn't really an issue that she had to worry about with Mango. He was big by this point to be sure, but he was a gentle giant. Plus, repointe had a reputation for being graceful and careful, not destructive and unaware. Mango was no different. Even now he stepped onto the treadmill gingerly, sniffing at it. Perhaps it still had the scent of previous users on it. Fiera wondered distantly what it was he was detecting. It was no matter to her. Mango examining his surroundings simply gave him time to settle in and gave her time to get set up. She, of course, had his treats in her pocket, same as always. They'd be key in rewarding him for longer and longer stretches on the treadmill. She also had his leash, which she tied to a specific knob on the treadmill. It would keep him from wandering off.
Fiera 1 Mango 75.1/27.1 Stamina 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:17:42 GMT -6
If she had to hit the emergency stop button however, the knob would pop right off and roll away, allowing Mango to pull himself free. It was a necessary precaution. Fiera picked up his leash, still with plenty of slack on it, and started wrapping it around the knob before pulling it tight, giving him plenty of leeway to walk on the treadmill. She didn't think she'd have to force him- he was pretty good at running around on his own. The goal here was for him to run at a set pace- probably a brisk trot. She didn't want him at his full speed, but she did want him moving fast enough that it took a good deal of effort to move. And then, she wanted to steadily stretch out the periods he moved for, slowly letting him get better and better at maintaining continuous movement for longer and longer.
Fiera 2 Mango 75.2/27.2 Stamina 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:24:01 GMT -6
That was the idea, at least. She had taught creatures stamina like that before, but she also knew that every beast was different. Hopefully Mango would take to it well. With that in mind though, she figured it was time to get started. "Mango, over here." She said gently, tugging on his leash. Mango turned from where he was sniffing at the door they just came in from and finally stepped up onto the treadmill, an action that took him little effort. He looked around off of the raised platform a bit, but otherwise seemed rather unaffected by it all. Good. Fiera wanted him to be as comfortable as possible through all of this- it was the physical effort that she needed him to push through, not stress from the very act of being on a treadmill and dealing with a scary new machine. Once he was situated, Fiera turned to the control panel.
Fiera 3 Mango 75.3/27.3 Stamina 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:28:11 GMT -6
As she had already noted, the controls were quite simple. She clicked the treadmill onto the lowest setting. It immediately started rolling its tread backwards, and Mango snorted with surprise as he started moving across the floor. "Yoohoo, Mango! Follow me!" Fiera commanded, and held out a treat for him to eat. Mango instantly trotted forwards to grab it, and then kept walking at the slow pace set by the machine. Now that he got the general idea of it, Fiera clicked it up several more notches in an attempt to reach the speed she wanted. Soon she found it, and Mango was trotting at a steady pace, not quite an outright run but definitely not walking either. Then she reached into her pocket, pulling out a stopwatch. She clicked it to start it so she could make a careful note on how long Mango was lasting on the treadmill.
Fiera 4 Mango 75.4/27.4 Stamina 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:33:46 GMT -6
Fiera made sure to tell Mango that he was doing good, that he was a good boy, to keep following her, at regular intervals. Considering that this was very different from their usual "walks", Fiera understood that it might be difficult for him to tell when the trick was "over", which would lead to him stopping early. Really, she'd prefer for her pet to stop late, but she could tell after just a few minutes of trotting that he was starting to flag. She didn't want him to injure himself, so after a minute or so she took a note of what speed she had turned the treadmill off and turned it down again. She didn't let it stop- if he stopped, he might not want to get moving again, especially in the later stages of his training. He would just have to "rest" while standing up and walking slowly.
Fiera 5 Mango 76.0/28.0 Stamina 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:39:27 GMT -6
She did offer him plenty of treats for a job well done however, handing them to him over the dashboard. He accepted them graciously, huffing with effort but still going strong. Fiera gave him a few minutes to eat and to 'rest' before she went ahead and turned the machine up again. Mango bleated with surprise at the speed, but Fiera quickly encouraged him to keep running. His rate of breath increased again as Fiera reset the timer, hoping he did better this time. Unlike his dexterity training however, there was no actual skill to be honed here. On Fiera's part, it was literally a waiting game to see if he'd improve or not- and if it turned to to be 'or not', she'd have to come up with something else. As she watched the stopwatch however, he felt a bit of satisfaction watching it tick past his original time stamp.
Fiera 6 Mango 76.1/28.1 Stamina 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:44:17 GMT -6
She cheered, celebrating the milestone, and Mango huffed loudly as if to weakly celebrate himself, though he didn't know what for. Fiera kept up the encouragement, praising Mango endlessly- though she hoped the effect of it wouldn't wear off. With her efforts and, of course, Mango's, he was able to keep up this attempt for several more minutes than the last one, though he was practically wheezing for air at the end of it. Once more, Fiera turned down the speed on the treadmill, letting him take a breather. She offered him more treats, though he only took one this time- she wasn't surprised he didn't have much of an appetite, considering that he probably wanted to keep his mouth open so he could breathe more easily. Fiera let him take his time, giving him a longer break than before to get his bearings once more. She didn't want him to give up.
Fiera 7 Mango 76.2/28.2 Stamina 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:48:38 GMT -6
Lucky for her, he didn't seem likely to do that any time soon. Once his break period was over, he didn't seem surprised this time when Fiera turned the speed of the treadmill back up. Instead he got right back to his trotting speed before it even finished accelerating, his head getting close enough to the control panel that Fiera could feel his breath on her face before he fell back again. Fiera started the stopwatch and tried her best not to monitor every single nail biting second, instead focusing on Mango and making sure he wasn't overdoing it. He seemed fine though- his gait was normal, none of his legs seemed like they were about to falter, he was breathing properly. It was like he was a well oiled machine, doing its job with nothing but fuel. The stopwatch in Fiera's hand ticked away as he ran in near silence, punctuated only by Fiera's encouragment.
Fiera 8 Mango 76.3/28.3 Stamina 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 16, 2024 20:53:31 GMT -6
After a while, Fiera realized that she had been watching Mango in a daze, completely zoning out from the rhythm of his hooves and the sound of the whirring treadmill. She 'woke up' with a start, immediately checking the stopwatch- he had been going for over fifteen minutes! That blew his last record right out of the water, and while he looked tired he still didn't seem like he needed to stop yet. Fiera gave him a few more minutes but finally wound the treadmill down, for his sake. She offered him a few more treats, but he only looked more determined than ever before- they were both sure that he could push it even further, now that he knew what he was doing. Fiera reset the stopwatch and turned up the dial once more- one more time, just to see what he could do. Mango started trotting, at the same pace but with determination in his eyes.
Fiera 9 Mango 76.4/28.4 Stamina 14
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