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Post by Renathan on Apr 7, 2018 1:42:07 GMT -6
The stallion is not quite alarmed yet; his ears are leaned forward, but he still isn't quite getting it. The machine shoots out another ball at a goodly speed; and this one hits a flailing Shy Guy who had tried to buck it, right in the flank. It releases a horrible noise; one that has even Renathan holding his ears in his hands; and the Stallion is certainly spooked. The creature takes off running; and then finally stops, running-walks around in a circle, and goes straight for the next ball that the machine shoots out; running straight for it with his horn held down. Renathan figured that he would wind up ramming it straight with the horn, but he spooks at the last minute, not-quite dodging the ball and once again getting hit in the flank. Renathan watches with a bit of a sickness in his gut; but he wants to see him dodge it at least once before he stops the training for today.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 7, 2018 23:04:33 GMT -6
The stallion is quite honestly 'freaking out' at this point, there is no other way of explaining the actions that the frightened equillion are taking. The stallion appears to decide to run away again; he takes off racing with his tail held high; and then he turns around yet again with a wheeling motion. The stallion once again rushes a bubble; the next one that comes out. Only this time, when it gets very close, he thinks better of it and whips his entire body past it, tail and all. His body moves in a wave motion to do this, maneuvering away from the ball with something that looked like ease; though it was obviously not as could be seen afterward; the poor creature skids to an uneven stop and breaths hard; glaring and glancing around to see any more bubbles. Renathan quickly turns the machine off before it could spit another of the balls out. That would be enough for today. He pops up within the stallion's view and gives him an apple before retreating.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 7, 2018 23:25:37 GMT -6
Renathan comes back the next day still feeling a little sick, but beginning to feel better just barely. He was still sniffling and coughing harder, but the ache was not quite as bad. He was actually feeling worse about continuing this training than he was physically feeling bad due to being ill. Renathan sneaks to the fence and lays down in the grass, hoping that the stallion could not see him. The equillion is prancing about in the field, appearing to be playing with something in the grass. Renathan breathes out and sucks air back into his lungs again. Then he takes the little remote from his pocket and stares at it for a moment. He was definitely having an issue with this; but it was much more humane than utilizing the whole throw a stick and a rock method. He stares at the remote just a moment longer and then forces himself to press the button.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 7, 2018 23:47:00 GMT -6
The stallion stops what it is doing; almost as if it feels a change in the air. Renathan fixes his eyes on the stallion, who is wary at first, but the calms down for a moment and appears to be lulled into a false sense of security at the delay. The stallion lowers his head to the grass again, and then he hears it. Renathan can tell he hears the noise of the ball being shot out of the machine because his ear twitches in a rather obvious way. Renathan catches his breath as the stallion catches sight after lifting his head near immediately of the ball that the machine had shot out. The stallion immediately acts, his body weaving forward aggressively; rushing away from where the ball was heading to avoid that horrible noise. Renathan breathes out a small sigh of relief and watches as the machine swivels to point towards the equillion yet again.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 0:07:40 GMT -6
Renathan was certainly having more anxiety about this than the stallion was. If the stallion started reacting in a shy fashion due to the machine causing a negative reaction, he was afraid that it could set them back several weeks! However, at least the stallion seemed to be working quite well with it so far. The stallion keeps it's eyes out, looking back and forth to see the balls that to it, seemed to be coming out of no where. Suddenly, the machine shoots out yet another projectile at the stallion. The stallion locks his pale blue eyes on it; and Renathan can literally see the light in them harden as he focuses on it with almost razor-like accuracy due to his intense hatred of the balls and the noise they made on contact. The stallion watches it, this time not allowing his body to move and waste too much energy just yet. He seems to be sort of getting the point of this!
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 0:41:18 GMT -6
The stallion is fixated on the ball; and as soon as it gets close enough he moves out of the way, still a little doggedly but the sentiment was certainly there; not that Renathan figured that it was the best way to describe it. The stallion would probably earn grace with this in time, eventually. For now, Renathan just hoped that he'd get used to leaping away from attacks that come from different angles. Renathan isn't thinking about it much whenever the machine swivels around again right towards the stallion. The machine, as Renathan decided, was going to be on the slowest setting until he started moving a little quicker. The stallion can hear it; his ears swivel in that direction and then lay back flat against his head. He dislikes this thing, definitely. The machine once again shoots out a ball; and he dodges it with just the tiniest bit of flair this time.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 1:16:22 GMT -6
Renathan quickly turns off the machine, and watches the stallion. He was certainly angry, but seemed a little calmer than he had the day before. The stallion twitches his tail and then steps around, his hooves making a thick noise against the ground. He investigates several of the pieces of the balls with his nose, and finally investigates one that had not broken open. He didn't quite touch it with his nose, but he was close. It was as if the pure equillion had realized that he would perhaps make it make a noise if it touched him. He stomped the ground near it, forcing it away a little. The stallion stamps around for a moment and then walks away, testing at things with his horn. Renathan was somewhat concerned that he might figure out that the machine was creating the balls; at this point. He wanted to test this further before removing the machine, however.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 1:58:05 GMT -6
Renathan wanted to see at least one more day with the machine; this time perhaps with randomized shots. Then he was thinking he may change up the strategy he was using a little to make sure that this would really stick in the stallion's mind as more of an instinct than something he had to consciously think about; if equillion really had conscious thought that was. Renathan turns away from the fence quietly, and then stands up, so that the Stallion can direct his attention to him. The Equillion does notice him rather quickly, and trots over, his whole body loosening up from where the stallion had been holding himself tight due to the stress from the strange attacking balls. The stallion running-walks up to the fence and Renathan gives him a pat and another apple gently. The stallion seems to have all but forgotten the attacking balls for now. Renathan would try again tomorrow.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 2:32:48 GMT -6
Renathan makes his way back at the fence the next day. He was hardly sniffling now; barely a sneeze here and there, and that meant that he was definitely getting better from his illness. He ducks down into the bushes beside the fence and then watches the stallion once again today. He wondered if the equillion thought it was strange that he wasn't around as much anymore; which was pretty sad. He doubted that it was a big thing for animals though, that were of 'lesser' sapience than humanoids. Though, he'd seen some odd things out of creatures before... He watches for a moment and does notice that the stallion once again seems to be looking for something again today. The stallion noses around in the grass, and walk-runs over to a rock where he noses around in a circle about it. Renathan is curious for a moment, but realizes that they really need to get things working out today, so that they can complete their training.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 2:45:31 GMT -6
Renathan watches the stallion check around a few more areas before turning on the machine. He swallows, carefully. For some reason, he feels even worse about this training today. When it finally would come time to do this training for other creatures, he knew he'd feel bad about it then too. The stallion could hear the machine start; and Renathan notices him push his ears forward, and then back against his skull. He locks eyes with the machine this time. Renathan knows what the means, and swallows before setting the machine on the highest setting and then on random. The Stallion did not seem to sense the change; but he does immediately run towards the machine. The machine immediately turns towards the stallion and shoots a volley of three balls nearly quicker than the eye can even catch at the stallion. They were of course really soft balls; but still, speed stung. Renathan holds his breath anxiously.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 2:54:43 GMT -6
The stallion is now quite focused on the machine. However, the volley of the three balls was certainly a more pressing issue at the moment. He dodges the first without too much issue, and then side-steps and rushes forward; the second one almost catches him but forces him back away from the machine much farther than he had been. The third almost caught him in his attempt to get away from the second, forcing him to leap over it with as much force as he could. Renathan breathes out and then breathes in much more calmly now, however... He's only calm for a moment. Another volley are shot at the stallion; well rather, one was shot directly at him, and the machine spins in a circle spitting the balls at irregular intervals before stopping yet again. The stallion dodges the first, nearly running into the second. He stots straight up in the air; and then dashes nearly into the fourth. Renathan was very surprised thus far.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 3:09:23 GMT -6
Renathan certainly felt bad; but the stallion was honestly awesome at this dodging thing; perhaps because of a pure's natural inclination to dislike stepping harshly on small insects? Though his stallion was not quite like a usual pure, and had no real remorse for eating such things, his body was still that of a pure's, very lithe and reflexive. The stallion dodges the fifth easily and even seems to have the foresight not to throw himself in the path of the sixth either. He'd managed to not have to deal with the seventh just like he hadn't with the third. He ignores the eighth now that there are less of them; and he spirals down into the machine, closer and closer to it. The machine fires another volley, forcing him back a little way again. The stallion seemed to be getting much better at this all the time, each time he had to deal with it. He zig-zags through the first three balls, and then starts to get closer to the machine again.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 3:57:17 GMT -6
Renathan is sure that the stallion will wind up knocking the machine over if the training continued on too much further, but Renathan did not want to interject himself and thus have negativity associated with him too much. This was certainly a dilemma. The stallion was wheeling closer and closer, dodging several of the balls using increasingly more finessed attempts. Eventually, Renathan is satisfied, and turns the machine off. The stallion wheels around the machine, but Renathan leaps over the fence, waving out towards the stallion and giving a low wolf whistle to get his attention. Reluctantly, the stallion keeps away from the machine, and makes his way over to the mammalian. Renathan is relieved but also a bit nervous. He pets the stallion, calming him down and whispered softly to him. Then he offered the stallion another apple quietly. After moving the stallion back over to the corral with the rest of his herd, he managed to remove the machine without any incident.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 4:10:35 GMT -6
The next day Renathan decided to have a little healing day with the stallion. Renathan does not hide to sneak up on the fence today; so the Stallion can see him coming far off. The stallion is quiet as he walks to the fence, but he still makes it there much faster than Renathan does. He pushes his head over the top of the fence and into Renathan's shoulder as soon as Renathan makes it there. Renathan pats his nose and then pats the stallion's shoulder and neck gently. The poor creature appears quite sad; as he's only seen Renathan a little while lately. Renathan pulls out a comb from his pouch and then leaps over the top of the fence; and then gets to work gently combing the equillion's mane. The stallion needed to be combed out today; at some point Renathan knew that he'd need to wash the stallion again, but so far it didn't seem too pressing.
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Post by Renathan on Apr 8, 2018 4:16:59 GMT -6
The stallion seems to be much calmer today, and Renathan is happy about it. The lack of the machine being around had certainly made him a lot less tense. Renathan finished combing the stallion's mane out and then he brushed his fur with the little nubby comb he had. This took quite a while; which was serving a vital purpose; the stallion needed to be calm and unsuspecting whenever they tested the dodging danger skill later on; to make sure that he wasn't just anticipating the balls flying towards him or watching them simply. Renathan makes sure that the stallion is comfortable and then provides him with an apple. Then he gives the stallion a gentle petting on his muzzle again before deciding that today's little calming day would be done. He takes the stallion over to the corral with all of the other equillion in it and then leaves by himself; contemplating his next move tomorrow.
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