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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:33:12 GMT -6
Well, she did once she had grabbed the escaped tumbleweed and tossed it in the space between the temblor balgor’s curved neck and the chest. Better for the balgor to have something to do beyond roar at each other the entire time if she hoped for them to ever grow used to one another.
They reached the room quickly, an even quicker check of the wall display showing she still had a few minutes before the minimum amount of drugged sleep would be over. Alma dumped the temblor into the cage, yanking off the harness this time before the balgor was deposited in the cage, and slid Farida’s hind legs in with some gentle pressure from the closing gate. It clicked shut, and when it did not open with a little test rattle, Alma felt fairly confident that neither balgor would escape her cage. Alma did not trust the two of them to meet nose to nose yet, much less without palm-thick bars to guarantee there would be no fatalities.
The ball of plant matter had slid in when the temblor balgor did, and Alma weighed the pros and cons of waiting in the room until both balgor woke up. She would not have much to worry about in terms of roars, as that was what the uncomfortable earplugs she was scratching at was for.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:33:24 GMT -6
Then again, what would she do if she stayed? There were a few books she wanted to look over, lists to make and purchases to consider, and she had brought none of it with her to the balgor room. “Well, I’ve got legs, don’ I? You two sleeping babes nap as long as you like. I’ll be right back with something to entertain me, alright?” Alma was halfway out the door before she turned to add, “And no fightin’. Those bars are strong, and you’ll break your bones before you can break through’em.” With that warning given, Alma left the room to gather her supplies.
The two balgor slept peacefully. It was not a sleep of dreams but of the sudden darkness that had dragged their eyelids and themselves down into it, a darkness that had not let up through all of Alma’s chatter and accident cart impacts with the walls. For a time there were no sounds other than their deep breaths, the tapping of Alma’s boots long since having been swallowed up by the distance. Neither knew how close their opponent was and, while under the influence of the narcotic that held them so tightly in its grasp, they did not care.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:33:35 GMT -6
What was there to care about in that deep sleep?
But, as with most sleeps, they began to wake. The temblor balgor was first, waking with a snort that sent the thick, ropy drool hanging from her mouth spraying against the rocks. She found it difficult to keep her eyes open as her limbs fought equally hard not to move from where they laid, but Farida was thirsty. Her throat ached, feeling like it was composed of the same cracked stones that surrounded her, and so she forced her limbs to push her upright, then compromised as they wobbled threateningly beneath her. She could smell the water, its scent the only one that mattered though an almost familiar one demanded her attention as well, and she ignored the latter scent to crawl towards the source of the first. She dropped her head into the trough as she found it, guzzling down the water to relieve her throat.
The level of the water did not decrease as she drank, and she might have noticed the slight current from where a dark hole connected with the trough if she had not been so thirsty. Curiosity could wait until she had properly satisfied her thirst.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:33:50 GMT -6
Hektor woke slower than the temblor balgor, her legs kicking at the air in confusion. In her groggy state, Hektor took several minutes to realize that her feet were not on the ground. It took a few more of her flopping and twisting like a near dead fish before she recalled how to get them back under her and to hold her weight. Ropes of drool and dirt had dried onto her mane just below her mouth, some floating away into her drinking water as she misjudged her mouth’s distance from the trough. With a snort, she sprayed the water that had gone up her nostrils, then she dipped her head back down with more care.
She drank until her mouth no longer felt as though it was dried leather, washing away the lingering bitterness that she had ignored when eating her earlier meal. With that accomplished, she shook her head briskly to send the water clinging to her main and face flying away.
Hektor looked over her cage, only to find that it was not her cage. Where was her favorite sunning rock, a big flat spear of stone that she could dangle her legs off of? Where was her leftover bones that she had kept for gnawing after the meal? What was that white thing?
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:34:00 GMT -6
Farida found her favorite ball of pants quickly enough, the springy weed surviving her accidental stepping on it as she turned to look around her cage. No, this was not her cage. She had lost her first to be brought to the rockier one, and it had been there that she encountered the other balgor. She had marked that cage with her scent repeatedly in case the other balgor tried to come by and claim her territory, though she had never had such a problem occur in the cages, and finally being able to see the other balgor had been an oddly nice break from her rule over the silent stones and plants.
This cage had none of her smells, though the plant was there, and she briefly wondered if she would ever see the other balgor again. Then checking her new cage became the most important activity, and so she picked up the ball in her mouth and began a slow circuit around the cage walls.
Hektor had seen that white thing before, could now smell the faint scent she had picked up over the course of her tenure in the other cage. And upon realizing what it was, Hektor did the one thing she knew she must do.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:34:10 GMT -6
The roar surprised Farida. All of her instincts screamed for her to turn and face it with a challenge of her own, or to flee as fast and far as she could before she felt claws in her back and teeth in her throat. The temblor balgor turned to do the first, meeting the blue eyes of the other balgor through two pairs of bars, and drew in a deep breath so she might roar her opponent into submission.
Unfortunately, the ball of plants in her mouth were not willing to let the air flow past them alone, and Farida’s attempt at a booming roar to cow her opponent was interrupted by a hacking cough as she tried to expel plants from her throat. With her legs stiff and straight, Farida curved her neck so she faced the ground as she coughed, a distinctively less intimidating pose than she would have liked. With her past of having grown up in the kennels and her private cage, she did not even think of the other balgor. The need to breathe properly was a great deal more urgent in her mind than some threat she had never even known the existence of before a few days ago.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:34:23 GMT -6
Hektor was confused.
She had roared her challenge, and reached within herself for the magic she instinctively knew she had. The custom balgor had held the heavy weight of the magic in her chest, ready to expel it as she would a roar, or to harden herself with it should her opponent prove to be too intimidating to risk attacking first.
But the other balgor had not attacked her. It had turned to face her with such speed that she had expected it to, but there was something in its muzzle as it turned, and now the white balgor had dropped it to hack and cough without even a second look up at her. The magic in her chest slowly dissipated as did the rumble in her chest, and she watched the white balgor continue to choke. She stared at the white balgor as its breathing steadily returned to normal, her own tail sagging downwards as her stance grew more relaxed. When the white balgor seemed to be mostly back to normal, Hektor tried to catch its attention with a meow.
It was a distinctively less intimidating sound than her roar had been, but after the white balgor’s display, and the memories of them not doing anything in the earlier cage, she did not feel the need to challenge it.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:34:37 GMT -6
Reminded of the other balgor with such a smaller sound compared to the earlier roar, Farida did not roar back as she might have to warn the other balgor off. Her earlier curiosity at the other balgor had returned, and she made a small snorting sound. The two stared at each other for a moment before, as with some unseen nor heard cue, they both looked away slowly and returned to exploring their own cages.
That was how Alma found them when she returned to check up on their progress, both balgor seemingly more interested in their new cages and assortment of rocks rather than the other massive predator. Hektor saw the human first and trotted over to the bars nearest to her with a huff, looking around her for the cart. Farida copied her a moment later, huffing as well until she noted there was no cart piled with meat for her to eat. The custom balgor returned to her exploration of the cage, but the temblor balgor waited as Alma drew nearer, asking the balgor questions she could not understand nor answer. “You two being good to each other? Gonna have the merge the cages soonish, make sure ya two will work with each other.”
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:34:49 GMT -6
Farida flopped down with her back pressed against the bars. “That bad?” Alma asked, loing back at where the custom was now trying to dig at the stones. She hoped the balgor would not destroy all the stuff in the cage, though she was not sure the claws of a balgor could cut through stone. They were not exactly the strongest beasts the labs had ever put out. She turned back to Farida with a shrug. “Well, at least ya two ain’t roarin’ and screaming at each other anymore. Still got ear plugs, wasn’t sure you two would be playing nice, but was hopeful. Guess the mirrors helped, right?” The temblor balgor twisted her head around to look at Alma with a meow. Alma hesitated, then said, “Didn’t expect you two to meow. Kinda big for it, ain’t ya?”
The woman looked at the bars lining the cage, and at the fur of the balgor sticking through it. “You wanna pat?” she asked with her face shifting into a grin, “Or ya’ll try to bite me hand off for this, but think the bars will save me.” Alma reached out slowly, and gently touched the fur of the white balgor, pulling back her hand just as slowly the moment her hands felt the tip of the fur.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:35:00 GMT -6
When the balgor did not roar or flail or try to gnaw her way through the bars of the cage for that offense, Alma reached out again. This pat was more like the pat one might give an unknown but friendly looking hound, gentle enough that the patter hopes to get in the pat without being bitten. The balgor huffed at that, turning away from Alma as she did, and the human had to fight the urge to yank her hand back too quickly. Was that a balgor version of a growl? Did balgor’s growl? She did not remember what the pocket guide had to say on the subject, so she moved onto the custom.
“And how are you doing today, Hektor?” she asked. “Like the new cage? Sorry it’s a bit small, it’s supposed to combine with that one,” she jerked a thumb back at Farida’s cage, the white balgor staring at her, “but I’m not wanting to lose a custom ‘cause I’m in a hurry. Not that I think you’d lose,” she laughed, “but Farida’s older and probably knows a bit more about fightin’ than you. Customs are born at their age, ya’know?” Well, the custom balgor did not know it, and she was pretty sure Hektor’s abilities would shred old Farida.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:35:11 GMT -6
Customs were made to be improved versions in every way compared to their free counterparts after all, but Farida could get lucky with a bite or tusk. And she was not too keen on losing Farida, not when she had raised the darn thing and could have some hope that the temblor balgor would be loyal enough not to see her as a meal. Customs were supposed to learn it faster, but one never knew these days.
Hektor did look up at her name and briefly came over to sniff at Alma. This time the human made no attempts to pat the balgor, Hektor’s stare benign more than enough to put her off putting any limb near the bars as the custom balgor made little huffing noises. “Not supposed to give ya more food yet, and don’t wanna give you a finger or two to tide you over. You’ll keep.”
With that said, Alma retreated to a corner of the room closer to the door and the temblor balgor, pulling out a book as she slid down into a seated position. She wanted to be sure the two balgor weren’t just having a temporary truce while she was there to see them.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:35:22 GMT -6
Well, that and she had been just a little bit worried about any side effects the drugs might have had on the two balgor. It would not look good for her to show up to the big boss battle with two drooling and stumbling balgor for the other people involved to see. If there were any side effects, she would want to catch them now and get a healer in before the damage was permanent.
Neither balgor showed any signs of horrible suffering from the prologue of her book to the finale when the baroness had been accidentally poisoned by her own pteropty and the young, untrained hero managed to get a sword into her gut, though the pair of balgor had decided to roar during one of the more quiet scenes between the villainess and her knights. Thankfully they had not made a habit of it, quieting down after the single initial roar each and her own surprised yell.
She was fairly sure that was a good sign, though it was hard to tell with the balgor. They did not show their emotions with their tails like a houluh would, but they seemed dead set on ignoring each other to the best of their abilities.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:35:34 GMT -6
Alma could only wonder how well that would work when they finally shared a cage.
An inspection of the bars the next day showed no new serious gouges or scratches, but then again, the cages were rated as being able to hold beasts like balgor and estharne with ease. The pair of balgor behaved themselves while she was there before her work, and it was the work of only a minute at the display inside the room before Alma was able to leave.
Of the two balgor, the temblor balgor was the one who did not notice when the cages began to move. Farida had lived in the kennels for her entire life, and the sound of grinding machinery was as familiar to her as her own scent. She played with the tumbleweed as the cages slowly scooted closer, their movement coming to a halt when the bars of the two cages were only a foot apart. What did she care if the cage was moving, her ball was bouncing away after a smack, and she had to catch it.
Hektor did not take it as well as the temblor balgor. She had been grooming her leg when she felt the vibrations from below her, and she sprang away with stiff legs from where she had been sitting a second before.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:35:51 GMT -6
Hektor did not calm down when the cages ground to a stop. She paced the cage, hopping ahead whenever a rock shifted underfoot or sturdy-feeling plants crumbled underfoot. As her entire cage was littered with smaller stones and a few plants, the custom balgor kept up with her running hops, lost in her panic despite the cage itself being as still as it had been before.
The temblor balgor did not notice the distress of the custom balgor as she played with her tumbleweed, laying on her back and kicking at the ball of plant matter with her hind legs as her forelegs held it tightly. A particularly spirited kick caused dry branches to break apart in her claws, and sent it flying in the direction of the panicking custom. Farida rolled onto her side, lifting up only her read from the ground as she prepared to pounce.
Hektor’s panting had grown louder by that point. The custom balgor lacking the endurance to keep up her run-hopping, but she was unable to stop. Farida looked up from the ball of weeds to watch the other balgor as she twisted away from a harmless tumbleweed like the one in front of Farida.
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Post by Alma on Apr 17, 2021 23:36:13 GMT -6
The temblor balgor watched the madness for a few more seconds, dropping her rear end to the ground to lay day completely as she stared. With a deep breath, Farida roared.
The noise crashed against Hektor like a physical wall, and the custom balgor tripped over her own paws. She slid against the ground, a small hill of plants and stone behind her back as she came to a stop. Still panting, Hektor did not even raise her head, unmoving beyond the heaving of her chest and the motion of her jaws. The temblor balgor waited a minute, then roared again, and this time Hektor lifted her head to look at the white balgor staring at her. Hektor roared in reply.
The temblor balgor crawled closer to the custom balgor, dragging her belly over stones until she reached her cage wall. There she stayed, making a soft meowing sound that would not have been out of place coming from a creature a sixth her size. The custom balgor grumbled back, making no attempt to move from her current spot as she rested her head on a flat stone.
The two balgor had moved by the time Alma returned, and she was glad to see neither of them were throwing a fit. So, with one last double check relating to the strength of the bars, she entered in the cages newest, and hopefully last, positions.
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