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Post by Lethalia on May 19, 2019 22:54:46 GMT -6
Originally, the woman had wandered out here with Vidarr in the muggy spring day to try and teach him some manners with a neck rope; he wasn't having any of it today. Being told what direction to go? Definitely not interesting. It was too hot for the saddle the drake had protested, albeit in his own much more brief wording. Maybe she'd get him into doing some work in the heat, just to spite his reasoning. He'd have to learn someday... even if it is after the tournament at this point. They were already out here in the tamped down training area, so she might as well make the most of it! So what her drake might not be steered for an amount of time more, but the biggest trips they'd be taking in the near future were going to be to the pit. Might as well keep at that, instead. |Okay. You're stronger than most drakes,| she states, shifting gears; it was easier to appeal to him, wasn't it? A statement like that would do the trick, and the drake puffs up a little at the compliment, inclining his head as if to prompt her to continue on about his prowess. |That means you could overpower them, hold them down.| Vidarr returns to his previous state of looking completely unimpressed, despite her efforts. After all, he'd just taken out so many with his crushing maw alone, hadn't he? Why bother struggling for any amount of time? Lethalia really... doesn't know how to show him how to do this one, without the use of more live prey. And that just... yeah. It fucks with her too much. Too bad she hadn't taught him this one when he was a baby, it would have been so much simpler to just get a hatchling to latch onto a game of tug-of-war! ...Actually. |Well then. Come play with me? See if you're stronger than me!|Though the statement was a little rhetorical, it's one of the few times she's seen Vidarr balk when his power came into question. Lethalia quickly realized perhaps it was the wrong thing to ask him; it may be a sore spot that she's truly the only one who has 'defeated' the drake in the pit thus far. Not before he got one better hit in on her, but they wouldn't talk about that, either. Even so, she's pretty sure there's no way Vidarr isn't aware that he's the stronger of them both. There's been no reason to question her authority or fight back against her gentle hand, and so the status quo had remained as it was for quite some time. Vidarr lv|105.1 ly|77.1 vice grip|1
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Post by Lethalia on May 19, 2019 22:55:09 GMT -6
The concept of play was still a bit over Vidarr's head, but Lethalia is slowly introducing him to the idea of it. He seems to be capable of finding enjoyment out of some things that aren't a drake's primary concerns, if she can get his attention away from it for long enough.
Lethalia had retrieved one of the pieces of the poor shattered wooden dummy, choosing that big flexible tail piece. It was rather like those wooden snakes she recalled playing with as a child, something attaching many pieces of segmented wood, but allowing it to sway side to side freely. Vidarr clearly doesn't trust her with a dismembered piece of sarane, even fake. Especially when she teasingly flails it in his face, garnering an irritated little snap in response. At least she's got a good handhold on the straps that held it to the entire dummy, instead of having to grip the edges to put her fingers in the line of fire.
|Okay. You need to grab it - don't you dare bite any part of me in the process,| she begins to direct, wondering how effective her threats ever were on such a huge creature. |Try and not let it wiggle.| Small steps is what Vidarr needs; if she were to explain an entire concept to him, it would either be too much for his comprehension... or he'd just zone out halfway through.
When the wooden tail was flopped at his head again, Vidarr had no hesitation snapping onto it rather awkwardly with a bit on either side of his maw. Unsure yet of what he was doing it wasn't quite what they were going for, it was the first step that meant he was cooperating. That was often the most difficult thing to get him to do, is work with her in the first place! Lethalia kept at flailing the toy back and fourth with all the might she had, which was enough to actually keep wiggling it within the drake's maw.
There was a reason she liked training in her own yard. This was one of them; to an outsider, this would look absolutely stupid. Both the act itself, and the fact she's basically just teasing a bigger-than-normal drake. Not that she could really blame anybody for judging their ridiculousness, but she preferred to just not open herself up for any more public ridicule. (This, when she's entering a tournament, as close to a public forum open for commentary upon her creatures she could get.)
|Don't let it keep moving!| Giggling erupted from her, unable to get over how silly he looked, head flailing along with the inanimate wooden tail.
Either upset with it or not understanding, the forest drake loosened his hold on the tail and Lethalia let it fall to the ground, not wanting to hurt herself to catch it.
|Again!|
|Why?| He sounded utterly perturbed about all she was inflicting upon him just now. What exactly is she trying to do, here?
|C'mon now, we're just trying to learn something,| she protests, |We can use the entire dummy once you know what we're going for!|
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Post by Lethalia on May 19, 2019 22:55:31 GMT -6
Looking down at the dismembered 'tail' and back up to his owner, there's very little application Vidarr can think of for this. |What?|
|Kay... uh.| Lethalia pondered for a moment, to the only time she'd seen this idea used in real life; against her own drake. It makes her stomach twist to remember it, but she conjures up the memory the best she can. A large dark brown drake, who looked more like a burning tree ent than he did sarane with his flaming body and barklike skin, the tiger stripes giving the impression of crackling bark that had been smoldering in a bonfire. He was bigger than Stark and was easily able to snatch the brown's neck in his jaws, holding him down even as Stark struggled and ice welled up in his gullet. The mass of his opponent was able to stiffen, hold him there like an anchor no matter what his hind talons attempted to scrabble against.
|That's what we're going for,| she surmises softly, as she shared the memory best she could with Vidarr. It's not certain if her own feelings would taint the matter, but Vidarr appears to perk a little more in realization. Perhaps it made more sense, now. |Yeah?|
A quick little |Yes,| comes, followed by a more thought-out |...tail?|
|Well yeah, you'll be grabbing their neck,| the woman reasons, suddenly feeling bashful for her choice as she picked the fake tail back up. |But if you can't hold something that I have still, you definitely can't do it to another drake.|
It was how she said it, so casually. The direction she wanted this to take was belied by her goading, and any more intelligent being would be able to see it for what it was. Vidarr was not such a keen creature, and her words instantly brought about a challenge to the drake. She could never stop provoking him into working with her, it worked too well!
Without another word she picked the tail back up, and Vidarr had snatched it into his jaws upon her upswing to swat at him again. Lethalia can't help but start at the suddenness of his snapping teeth, but all the more pleased he was going along with it for now. And, at least, she's no small creature; she may not be any sort of competition for him head-to-head, but the satyr's got enough strength and mass to sit and 'play' with him like this. Setting her hooves against the turf she gave the tail a good lash, and the tail bobs with his head coming along for the ride. The huff of air that came out of his nostrils came with his crackling growl, twisting his head the other way to try and just rip it out of her hands.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Lethalia tried to exclaim through her laughter, but she can't complain too much - it's not a bad move! Being able to brace against the moments of another could be a large part of this move, and she was proud of him to instinctually try and twist the toy away from her.
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Post by Lethalia on May 19, 2019 22:55:53 GMT -6
Lethalia loosened her grip to readjust, finding a more firm grasp on her handholds and setting herself against them. Hefty hooves digging into the dirt, the woman began to lean down and put as much weight against his grip as she could. Amber eyes widened as Vidarr found his head being dragged straight down, burly neck flexing with effort to not allow himself to be moved further. Tug and pull as she might, the satyr began to find it impossible to move the drake another inch as well as he'd set himself. Another tug and her clutch on the tail fails, seeing her roll unceremoniously to the ground. |That was great! Now seize it again!" she demanded, deciding it would be better to attach a command to it sooner rather than later.
It doesn't take very many attempts for her biceps to ache, even if Vidarr absolutely doesn't match the amount of effort she's got to throw at this. Another few times of falling on her ass just because she can't hope to wrest the tail from the drake's grasp, and she throws in the towel. There wasn't much more he could learn from her this way, but he did wonderfully in learning what she was looking for.
The dummy was still looking rather poorly after their last beatings on it, leaning unsteadily on a stack of small wood pieces in place of the feet Vidarr had rended off. The parts would be replaced and the dummy restored to a more drake-looking appearance someday, but perhaps it's tattered state would be a boon for this. |Remember, you're going for the neck,| she reminds him. "Seize it!" The command she's chosen brings a smile to her face, just for how silly it was. She loves things like that.
A great snapping of his jaws, enough that Lethalia was concerned he'd disregarded everything she'd just discussed with him and just crunched the dummy into oblivion. Happily, he's just struck hard, meaningful in his movements. Maybe he really was growing up a little, becoming a bit more measured in his movements.
The impact of Vidarr's strike had knocked the dummy off kilter, and no matter how hard he initially hit it the drake hadn't retained enough of a grip on it to keep it upright. It wobbled under a lost leg, blocks holding it up knocked over from all the movement. It unceremoniously rolled to the ground, neck jerking out of his maw. |You don't have to hit too hard,| Lethalia informs him, going about tilting the dummy back on it's 'feet'. That particular piece of advice would definitely fall on deaf ears because why shouldn't he hit as hard as he can? |Hold it still, that's the idea.| The dummy leaned against her back as she stacks the wood blocks back underneath it's stumpy legs, backing away gingerly to make sure it remained standing - but only just.
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Post by Lethalia on May 19, 2019 23:01:07 GMT -6
He doesn't strike as fast a snake might when the command is given again, but the coiling of his neck and the way it darts out for a snappy clout brings a snake to mind. Vidarr's aim still leaves a bit to be desired, bottom jaw bumping into the dummy before hitting it's mark. The dummy began falling as he closed his teeth around that scrawny neck, but better than last time, her drake's neck and chest stiffen. The weight is quite easy for him to bear, and aside from the flailing of the dummy's lower half as it rocked to the ground, was rather still. Vidarr growled slightly and lifted his head further, dragging the dummy for a ways before it came to a stop. |Perfect!| Lethalia crowed mentally and out loud, more thrilled than she should be. She'd hoped it would come this naturally to him! His aim still needs work, but he's gotten much more confident about his actions with the strength of an adult drake to back it up. It was much more pleasant to train a comfortable adult sarane than it was an energetic youngster; she would have plenty of that to look forward to soon. |A few more times,| she prompts, dragging the dummy upright once more - able to prop up just one leg this time instead of both missing limbs. Each shouting of "Seize!" that was heard over her fields found Vidarr snapping at the dummy, each time letting it wobble less and less. Lethalia can feel the strain it has on his neck and upper body, just how much he has to brace against the wooden mass to keep it still. Good, that meant he was getting the mechanics of how this works - and might be capable of doing it to another creature if need be. Satisfied with his work, Lethalia allowed Vidarr to drop the dummy one last time. Teeth marks mar up and down the scrawny wooden neck, a few dents here and there with the strength it took to heft the rest of it. Not bad. Vidarr lv|106 ly|78 vice grip|5 vice grip training accepted!
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Post by Lethalia on May 20, 2019 0:28:30 GMT -6
With how regularly she's thinking of ways he can get the upper hand on an opponent, Lethalia's found she's slowly becoming desensitized to the imagery. At one point she'd been a hunter, and she'd made a damn decent way of living for herself at the Grand Caravan with her trade. No, something being 'icky' or simply about killing beasts didn't bother her. Something about teaching a creature to go after something else, tear it apart... it was hard to come to terms with how big of a part it came completely naturally to the drake, and what good part of her life was now dealing with it. There was something inherently punishing about their bond; even if she knows better, the hare-brained instinct in her is strained by such intimate brushes with the hound. It feels like an act of rebellion against that basal intuition to be so close to a beast, taunt the panicked prey in the corner of her mind. Maybe it's some kind of masochistic tenancy that she deals with it by battering herself with the ideas, but maybe at some point she would gain mastery over the feeling. Just the idea made her stomach turn, so she had to train Vidarr how to bloodlet his enemies once the thought crossed her mind. It was difficult enough of a feat to get Vidarr interested in going for the legs, but it was going to take another effort to get him to bleed his foes. The drake is all brute force, unlikely to see the point in not striking hard as soon as he could. Not that sarane were known for their capability of metering their strength; it didn't seem to mesh well with their more rage-prone side. Those who could pull their blows when the time called for it took a shrewd drake and decent trainer. Lethalia's not certain either one is true in their case. Now seeing the training dummy out wasn't the threat of drudgery Vidarr seemed to once think of it as anyway, and Lethalia's pleased with having less of a fight with him about things. She's not certain whether it's because he was growing more interested in the things they were learning, or if he was just learning to not fight it anymore. Vidarr lv|106.1 ly|78.1 maul|1
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Post by Lethalia on May 20, 2019 0:28:48 GMT -6
It was almost a shame to waste a new dummy so soon, but Vidarr was more curious about the bright blue plastic barrels lined up beyond the target. |Those are for later,| she told him, shaking the dummy in front of them to make it's fake tail and neck sway. It was a clever little thing, and she liked them for having a nice heavy target if nothing else. It was nice for younger sarane to have a decent looking target, too.
|You remember tatter?| she asks, getting a lazy positive response. Yeah, that's encouraging that he's absorbing any of this learning. |So... Kind of like that. I want you to learn how to bleed something.| Vidarr's head cocked, seeming unsure of the idea - he always made things bleed. Lethalia winces, thankful for their ribbon with the knot that had formed in her throat. |So you're hunting, and... you just rip a chunk out of something.| Vague imagery begins to form, some kind of heavily bleeding prey darting away into the forest. |But, you follow it... and just making it bleed, was all you needed to do.|
A final blurry impression of stumbling across the felled prey, dead not far away from the blood loss - one only had to walk in it's sanguine footsteps to find it. Lethalia lets her inner mind squirm over the idea, unwilling to let herself flinch away from the idea. There might be a chance they'll even be using it in real life, what was her stupid prey brained flight response going to do then?
It's no surprise any idea resonates with him when it involves hunting at the very least. Lethalia's found that Vidarr responds to things when related to hunting hapless things, as opposed to going toe-to-toe with something capable. Hopefully she's not setting him up for failure with letting him mostly just think of hunting prey that wouldn't retaliate, but she's got to get him to cooperate with this somehow. The hopes are that he can at least jog his memory about what a command means when he's faced with something in the pit!
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Post by Lethalia on May 20, 2019 0:29:15 GMT -6
Though Vidarr's more of a direct hunter, the thought is quite enough to get him curious. As much as she would like to try and get him to understand where effective areas to cut a foe would be - but no drake is going to sit here for a lesson in anatomy. He hunts enough on his own, when facing something down that's more weaponized, at least he should know where to hit to make it bleed.
|Well?| she prompts, wondering if her drake would understand so easily. |Wanna try?|
A first strike from Vidarr sends the dummy toppling, more just swiping it aside rather than the right kind of 'gentle' they're looking for. |Really sink your claws in,| she tries to recommend as she tipped the dummy back upright. There's a certain desperation she has to avoid another live target. If the drake had caught onto the hesitation even in her inner voice, he wasn't showing it. |Really... tear them up.|
Owner clear of swinging range, Vidarr's claws took another dive at his wooden target. Talons skidded across the wood, grasping and ripping at a wing, but mostly missing his mark for trying to be too careful. Lethalia held back her impulse to input something when Vidarr squared himself up again, readying himself for another go at it. Well then, who took her drake and replaced hers with a rather motivated one? He really will get into this when he chooses to, and maybe learning how to sink tooth and nail into things in different ways might have some satisfaction to it for him.
The next swipe found the dummy's neck, quickly getting stuck in the dense wood for how they embedded those blunt edges. Struggling for a moment against the wood's strength, Vidarr leaned his weight into his swipe and heard a crunch as the dummy gave, a chunk following the wood grain cleaving off the fake torso. It felt like it took much longer than it had, giving enough time for his wings to splay and flap slightly to find his balance. From her perspective, it was actually a decent - if slightly slow - strike!
|Nice! Can you do it again?| she asks, excitement edging into her tone. It was great to see him pick up on something to naturally!
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Post by Lethalia on May 20, 2019 0:29:45 GMT -6
Vidarr huffs, flexing his claws a little to make sure they were all still attached. That thick of wood was rather tough, maybe he should go for something else. His talons kneaded into the earth as he rounded on his target once again, contemplating where to aim. The legs always bled plenty, as would the head and neck. Shifting his weight, a talon hooks out at the dummy's neck, meeting the resistance of the wood before Vidarr jerked against it. Again it felt like tremendous effort to cut through the wood, but his talons jerk though after a crackle and spray of wooden splinters.
|Nice!| Lethalia praises, lips quirking a little; Vidarr didn't seem like he was enjoying it much anymore, the way he was looking at his paws. Were his claws getting stuck? Ouch. |Wanna try the other targets?| She'd wanted to see him make a little bit more progress before moving onto the barrels since they were more of single use targets, but maybe he'd surprise her.
He's surprisingly interested in trying them out, and Lethalia supposes she can't blame him. It's the thing closest to a toy that he can get. Vidarr's first excited swipe almost bounces away from the barrel, the water inside slopping about and almost deflecting his claws. The drake took a step back from the sudden deluge of water from the top of the barrel, baffled eyes wide. What even?
|Try tearing it more,| she recommends helpfully, smirking at Vidarr's confusion over the barrel exterior. The woman had hoped it would at least somewhat resemble tearing through thick hide, and having to adjust to be able to latch onto that. |Don't knock it over, just try and get your claws in.|
Another glancing blow had Vidarr's nostrils flaring, and an angrier swipe skidded off the smooth curved side of the barrel as well. A tiny growl rumbled in the drake's chest, rocking more of his weight onto his hind legs to allow his front to maneuver a little better. (Lethalia does her best to not cheer on his impulse, it seems smart! Just like teaching a horse to collect itself, making movements on the forelimbs lighter. He'd reject the comparison.) "Bleed!" she called, just as Vidarr swung. His claws hit true this time, hooked enough to drive the blunt points into the plastic. Water began to gush out between his talons, and began to flow freely as he jerked a flap of the plastic open.
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Post by Lethalia on May 20, 2019 0:30:09 GMT -6
|Yes! Like that!| Lethalia praised, pleased his natural instinct meant this one was a breeze! It was hard for her to naturally appeal to his more bloodthirsty side, but it was a reality she would need to face with a drake as a huge part of her life. She'd ignored his nature for long enough, hence why she gave into it recently with the tournament, the training. That was what he really needed? She could try and appeal to it, instead of just tamping his true nature down. If he wanted fights, he'd get fights. Vidarr had shuffled away from the small water spout as the barrel emptied itself. It might not have been blood, but he appears quite pleased with it anyway. "Vidarr," she says, garnering his attention once more. She points at the next barrel, and the drake's tail began to lash with anticipation. "Bleed!" The command at this point was still combined partially with sanguine imagery, but it creates such a visceral reaction in Vidarr she doesn't begin to believe he's going to have a hard time remembering it. It was pleasing to watch the drake launch himself at the barrel, talons at first skidding across the smooth surface. He got a grip on the barrel with both talons as he skidded completely over to it, giving the drake enough purchase to sink his talons into both sides of the barrel. More water burbled out of the top than anything, but the set of holes left when he lets go are more than sizable enough. Lethalia commenced with barking the command at Vidarr until the last of her half-dozen barrels had been brutalized. The drake was out of breath by the time he tore through all of them, and completely soaked. Well. That wasn't a bad way to end what training she could give him for the tournament; she would have let him rest at least some leading up to it! Vidarr lv|107 ly|79 maul|5 maul training accepted!
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Post by Lethalia on Jul 3, 2021 16:30:58 GMT -6
For the most part, Lethalia was able to admit to herself just how irresponsible she'd been with Vidarr. Surely he served as a decent enough mount... even if she eschewed 'installing' steering in favor of conditioning him for a tournament. As she figured it, at least she was only putting herself in any sort of harm's way with this, and not anybody else. So.. that made it fine? And he was so well behaved when by her side, which was the most anybody could ask of their drake, 'bridling' him hadn't felt all that pressing. She'd seen few others on the back of drakes around here, and even less without something to guide their beast - might be reason to argue that nobody else did. With good reason, obviously. Even so, there was the biggest part of her that was loathe to bridle the drake. There was something so profane about inhibiting such pure freedom. Vidarr lv|131.1 ly|87.1
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Post by Lethalia on Jul 3, 2021 16:31:47 GMT -6
Once upon a time, when she was just a bit younger and still traveling with the Grand Caravan, she'd been called an adrenaline junkie. There had been little reason to argue, back then. She might have gotten a lot of growing up done since, but there was a chance she still had some... tendencies towards it. Time didn't change everything. What else could you call raising beasts that could delete you at a whim?
If she was going to continue to be the only soul on Vidarr's back, things would be different. If that were the case, perhaps she'd never try and direct him in the air. Now... well. The satyr had a rather large trip Beyond planned, and the intent was to bring back some especially precious cargo. Though she'd subject herself to flying on an untrained (so to speak) drake, it was unfathomable to do the same with her Fawn.
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Post by Lethalia on Jul 3, 2021 16:33:23 GMT -6
Harrowing as it was exciting, bringing Fawn home had occupied the entirety of her mindspace lately. They'd gone on this journey before, but this time was going to be so different. Her ever-vigilant prey drive had been convinced her stress meant something was in pursuit of them, chewed at her insides constantly, gut-twisting nausea in response to an event that hadn't even come to pass yet. She might lose weight worrying over it but by gods she was going to make this happen if the girl wanted to come here.
Her air of urgency didn't go unnoticed by Vidarr, who kept up the same [chagrin] as he ever did when she was in a hurry to get him to do something.
Being saddled was a completely normal occurrence by now, as was the neck rope being tossed over his head, laying down so that she could reach the stirrup. Vidarr stretched one wing, and then the other, giving them a flip as if he had his own checklist to go over before they took off. No, the strange part was that she leaned over to pat his neck, informing him |We're staying on the ground for a while today, okay?|
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Post by Lethalia on Jul 3, 2021 16:34:06 GMT -6
Vidarr gave her the best drake equivalent to raising a brow at her, massive head craned over to look at her as if he would make more sense out of what she was saying that way. Hand on his nose, she attempted, |I uh... we have a special project,| even as she could feel the training session grinding to a halt in spite of her best efforts. Vidarr's amber gaze remained locked on her, and she drew a breath but stifled the sigh - they could figure this out. |'member our trips? How we flew hours past that great big forest, and into those cold mountains? Took a few days.|
A drake's memory normally wasn't something she would hedge any bets on, but those travels had appealed too deeply to Vidarr for it to escape his mind. He gave that odd bob of his giant head to agree, a strange human tic he must have picked up from her. |We're going again, so I can see them again....|
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Post by Lethalia on Jul 3, 2021 16:35:03 GMT -6
|Now?| he inquired, eyes wide; Lethalia was impressed to see him so instantly excited about something. Perhaps there was room to re-think how lazy the drake always seemed. If adventure was this much of a draw for him, it was likely more a problem of motivation than laziness. She was rubbing off on him all too much. |Soon, but I need to get some stuff done first. We-||Want fly town?| Vidarr interjected, shocking a big grin onto his owner's lips. It was amazing enough to hear something resembling a full sentence from him! Might be a pain in her rear, but gods she loved this drake. He might not entirely understand 'human stuff', but he was getting the idea of her normal patterns. Boring shopping and hauling stuff was something Vidarr had come to expect when his owner claimed to have a project. He wasn't smart but he had his moments. Vidarr lv|132 ly|88
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