|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:07:52 GMT -6
They shivered and lowed fretfully as he passed overhead once again. At his owner's behest, Vidarr's presence backed the murp up into a corner so that they would have few places to turn and run. Instead of panicking and separating with their urge to flee, the murp pressed together all the more solidly at his first and second pass over them, even though the predator's claws were practically skimming the tops of their heads. Lethalia had never previously considered using her sarane for stock work until now. It stood to reason predators overhead would be effective in a different way than pesky small teeth nipping at their heels or another herbivore trying to run them down. Downside being the drake put them all on the defensive; probably why folks chose to not whip their fodder into a frenzy by using one. It was going to take far more effort for Vidarr to peel a single herd member away than a herder that didn't promise imminent demise. snatch|6
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:08:17 GMT -6
"Y'can't wait forever," Lethalia pointed out; not unless Vidarr was waiting for one to drop from the sheer stress of it all. While it would have made his life easier, it wasn't quite what she was looking for. Even as he made another pass overhead Leth could hear the rumbling in the drake's chest, rolling into a gaping hiss as he surged towards the battened down flock. The murp flinched and the first few layers of bodies peeled away to duck into the herd's protection, whipping the collective into movement. It was harder to tell heads from tails in a mass churning of bodies. Nothing that helped the drake's cause - wherever he would reach into the herd, there were rounded horns to jab or the strong back hooves of another to flick him away from his pursuit. Now that he wasn't concentrating specifically on remaining still, Vidarr hovered above the flock without a second thought while his keen amber eyes sought to find a weakness within the ranks. snatch|7 hover|3
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:08:40 GMT -6
That weak point wasn't found as much as it made itself known. One of the murp had apparently been pushed to it's limits, letting out a brittle baying as it twisted away from it's herd's protection. Rounded horns met the drake's claws, trembing though they were. The murp puffed up and squared itself up against the drake, it's blonde-white flanks heaving and dark with stressed sweat. Poor soul - if only it'd had the werewithal to stay inside of it's herd, it would have been around for a little while longer. "There! Snatch him!" Lethalia blurted, growing antsy in the moments Vidarr just stopped to look at the upstart meal. Not as if there would be a lack of remedial chances after this - but he was blowing his opening for no reason! Decision making like that wasn't his strong suit, and timing was going to be important when trying to haul off something near as big as he was. snatch|8 hover|4
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:08:55 GMT -6
Horns that swung an uppercut at the drake turned out to be the perfect claw-hold. As the horns came up Vidarr latched onto them with one claw, struggling in the air as the murp pulled it's head away with all the strength it could muster to save it's hide. One foot hit the dirt and Vidarr took advantage of his momentary leverage, pushing off the ground as he tugged the murp's horns, ragdolling the bovine into the air. Their ascent shocked the murp to silence for a few moments, before it loosened a scream that said it knew it's time was running out. One claw still grappled the ring of the murp's horns, while the other dove into it's wooly barrel to get a better grip on the creature's frenzied struggles. A back claw latched onto one of the murp's flailing hind hooves, the drake nearly curled around his quarry and fighting to remain in the air. He twisted with the murp best he could, tail whipping and curling against the weight it was throwing about. Sure enough the creature was no lightweight, but nothing as banal as an untouched murp was going to get the best of him! snatch|9 hover|5 end
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:09:36 GMT -6
"Okay, okay! Good - now crunch!" Lethalia hollered, Vidarr's adrenaline beginning to make her hands shake. Exposure had lessened her reaction to the drake's emotions, but it was possible to drown in the feeling still. She needed the salivating thrill of sinking her- his claws into flesh to stop. Vidarr was only too happy to oblige, dropping to the ground to dispatch the frenzied bull. Leth let out a breath she hadn't been able to set free until now, when the frenzied baying died down and the horrible roiling battle in the air ceased. The rest of the herd were shocked into silence, tense as they awaited to see what move the predator would take next. They flinched at the drake's every move, though he would have little reason to pursue another with such a sizable meal in front of him. Leth sent the drake away to 'enjoy' his meal away from the terrorized flock, in spite of his complaints that the fear would've soured the meat. Hardly reasoning to let it go to waste. Vidarr lv|143 ly|95 snatch|10 end
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:09:53 GMT -6
She should have known a large farm would require so much of her time going into it. To a point she'd expected work, but not to this extent. Sarane were demanding in both space and time, let alone the additional work locating, maintaining, and housing their food animals. Not to mention the dogs were getting numerous and bold enough to make themselves a problem when they were bored - which was frequent. And the odd smattering of unique species she obtained that had yet to be taught any manners... It could just get overwhelming, all of that on one person who knew she was decidedly not the responsible type. She'd never expected to be the type to own land - either being successful enough to do so, or that she could develop roots somewhere. It wasn't something she'd been very prepared to come into, taking care of a rather large operation. So sometimes, she'd just do what she did best. Ignore it all. Vidarr lv|143.1 ly|95.1 wing buff|1
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:10:34 GMT -6
Stolen moments of respite from the constant demands of her growing farm found Lethalia doing nothing more with that fleeing time other than lay on her back to watch her drake fly his path over. Tomorrow, she'd pay for it in the backlog of work caused by her own hand. Today, she was going to lean back and take joy in Vidarr's aerial expertise. One of her biggest joys was to fly along with him, but this made it pretty high on the list, too. He was the only creature unfettered and allowed to do so, with the confidence he wouldn't come home with a neighbour's pet as a meal. She had just barely enough trust in him to let him - but the neighbours didn't need to know that. Kept to heel enough to keep Spinesnapper at bay, whether or not he was more fable than fact at this point. wing buff|2
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:10:48 GMT -6
"Shoul' teach'ya mo' dogfightin'," she mused, telegraphing her thought in the drake's ribbon as well as aloud. It'd become second nature, to talk to him with both when she couldn't stand the physical silence. Vidarr's lazy aerial stunts were a far cry from the vicious, jagged movements of a fighting drake, but brought it to mind none the less. While drakes were made for it, Lethalia found being so tightly bound to one caused bloodshed to enter her mind with so much more ease than it used to. |No dog,| Vidarr sneered. He had no reason to think much of the lesser canines she'd been fussing over lately - but she had an inkling that any attention diverted away from himself or his daughters was baleful in his eyes. "Air fightin', teach'ya more air fightin'," Lethaia corrected herself, not interested in a battle of wills out of a definition. Not today. wing buff|3
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:11:06 GMT -6
His snort couldn't be heard from all the way up there, but somehow it carried over on the ribbon just fine. |No fighting help,| he informed her curtly - of course a question over his lording of the skies would be met with the fullest sentence he could turn 'no' into, which was a huge feat for him. "Really? Even if'ya coul' go'n figh mo'bigger critters, again?" Curiosity - that was good. Those lazy undulations in the sky didn't stop their flow for a mere conversation, but she could feel his focus honing in on her, reaching for answers in a wordless question. It had taken them some years to figure out conversing, even if it was second nature now. "Nother tourney comin'." Lethalia wasn't sure why she was telling him - she could just as easily not and spare herself the bloodshed and the pain. These weren't things she indulged in, but Vidarr's spark of excitement was enough to begin kindling her own. If she wasn't careful he was going to make her an addict to it. |Been thinking of a few things we could try.||Yes?| wing buff|4
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:11:25 GMT -6
If only Vidarr was as amenable to getting much done without a tournament pressing against their backs. She was unsure of how soon the announced tourney might take place, but Vidarr couldn't later claim she'd been lying if it didn't materialize. It was going to be a thing. |Your big wind,| she began, slipping into using their ribbon's link without thinking, |I want you to try knocking something out of the air with it.| At least Vidarr seemed to find the concept interesting - it boded better for getting his cooperation, anyway. Lethalia didn't like to admit a creature could get the upper hand on her and just refuse a training session, but she didn't think there was entirely much arguing with a thundergug or wiurn when they diegned to lay down for a nap. She was trying to not give herself such a hard time about dealing with this giant, the same way she wouldn't judge someone's 'gug laying down in refusal. Some of them were just like that. |Like?| Vidarr lv|144 ly|96 wing buff|5
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:11:48 GMT -6
|Well, eventually another drake would be the goal.| He seemed to like the sound of that - framed as defending his territory, she could work around some of his refusals. |For now - dunno, flick a couple of birds out of the sky.| He zipped right over and snapped a bird out of midair, drawing a cackle from his owner. |With your wind, dum-dum.|Leth should have thought about giving Vidarr this task ages ago. If watching his lazy wavering in the sky was enjoyable, watching his zig-zagging across the sky as he followed a barely-visible bird was great. |Stop chasing it, Vidarr. Wind, dude!| It was interesting being privvy to some of his inner workings - every part of the drake was big and loud. Frustration mounted and she could feel his bumping thoughts as he tried to reason it out mechanically - wings, flying, how do - wind - while also - fly - Dropping in the air to accomplish the feat, Vidarr's quick wingsnap sent a small form spiralling out of the sky. |Can you find more?| wing buff|6
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:12:05 GMT -6
Simple challenges worked wonderfully for a simple drake. Other farm creatures were likely wondering why random snacks were falling out of the sky. Admittedly, they didn't seem to pose him any challenge once he got the hang of it. Lethalia had hoped as much - he was a fairly seasoned drake of the skies by now, it would be a pity if he wasn't a master of the winds at this point. Nothing came more naturally to him. But the birds weren't really posing Vidarr much of a challenge - Lethalia came to wonder if it was just a fraction of his normal power he was playing with, rather than the gale she'd been hoping to work him towards. Ah well - a wingful of air could end up being useful. It had always been like this with Vidarr, training stretched out over days to allow for anything to really stick. Birds for the next few days stood no chance in the air above the farm - Lethalia had to put a halt to his slaughter. The grounded hens had already gotten tired of gobbling up the felled birds, now more of an annoyance raining on their heads than an unusual treat. wing buff|7 end
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:12:41 GMT -6
If she really wanted him to take it seriously, Leth knew what kind of target would bring about the right amount of.. ire. Something a little more dire than a lump of feathers not even worth the effort to swallow. Oh no, how would she ever find a suitable target... Funny enough, it seemed she had near endless 'inspiration' to be found caged in her unbroken drakes' flight cages. Vidarr ignored the poor contained souls - and likely wouldn't be too bothered if one got out, either. The unbroken drakes who were even several years old remained just as intimidated by the giant drake as if they were still fledglings - Leth couldn't nessicarily blame them. The scale wasn't tipped in their favor, and as she'd seen in tournaments, the drake with the barest sliver of advantage would come out on top. Apparently these little dudes had wits enough about them to be aware of the fact, at least on an instinctual level. air's wrath|1
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:13:25 GMT -6
Xylon became the lucky winner of the day, and found himself removed from his 'kennel' to be lashed to a long tether, the other end anchored to a metal loop imbedded deep in concrete. It was meant to contain the drakes before they were shipped off to the pit to be broken, but this was a decent use of the holding area too. Instantly the bound drake was squalling his displeasure at the proximity of the scary giant, taking to the skies in retaliation when his screaming did nothing. His scream sliced through the air as he rose, cutting off just as quickly when he hit the end of his tether. None of the creatures were terribly impressive when they were in this enraged state. Leth had a hard time taking them seriously because of how much less intimidating they were when flopping about in confused rage, nevermind they could still wipe her out even under duress. air's wrath|2 Xylon is present but not gaining levels
|
|
|
Post by Lethalia on Mar 12, 2022 10:14:49 GMT -6
"Xylon is your son, y'know," Lethalia was pointing out to Vidarr as they both watched the tethered lilac drake. It was almost hard to imagine the bright blur was one of his get, with pastel purple and neon greens that the camoflouge drake could hardly dream of. The drake offered nothing more than a 'hrmph' in response; ah well. Better not let it slip that Xylon may well be (conventionally) more attractive, too. While she was able to instill the idea of who his daughters were, sons weren't going to get the same response from a drake. Especially one like Vidarr who produced upwards of themselves - the horns on Xylon far surpassed his sire's. Drakes weren't overly friendly even among unranked wretches, and one sporting a rack that large would never lower himself to befriending another male. It made him as good of a target as any. Vidarr lv|145 ly|96 air's wrath|3
|
|