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Post by Noa on May 18, 2019 19:46:05 GMT -6
There was an unusual determination in his eyes. Aster mentally filed that one away; maybe he could do a little more with that. But for now, he focused on the task at hand.
“Alright then. Grunty, breathe fire.”
It was amazing how well this worked. Grunty took a little longer to gather his breath, but when he let it out this time, a veritable torrent of flame came out, and neatly immolated the ever-loving stuffing, so to speak, out of the shabby wooden dummy. “Wow,” Aster said. He had been right to steer clear of it. Even at a distance, he felt a little hot.
There, said Grunty, sounding particularly satisfied. That’ll show him.
“It sure will,” Aster said. Nevermind the fact that the half breed might well be resistant to fire if it could breathe the stuff itself. “Let’s have you try again. This time I’m not going to make a dummy, you’re just going to think of him yourself, alright?”
(15)
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2019 19:46:41 GMT -6
Okay, Grunty said.
“Great. Now, breathe fire,” Aster said. Grunty took another deep breath, and loosed a long tongue of flame. It wasn’t quite as big as the last one, but it was plenty big enough; certainly bigger than what he had been doing previously. It made Aster wonder just how much animosity Grunty actually harbored, hidden away under his placid exterior.
Well, at least it was useful right now.
“Let’s do it a few more times,” Aster said.
They did less practice with this than they did with the smaller flames, partially because at first the idea was just to get Grunty used to breathing fire period. But the larger breaths also took more out of him, and Aster didn’t want Grunty to over-exert himself. Besides which, there was only so much ground they could char before Aster began getting seriously concerned. The area was only sparsely covered with grass, and he wouldn't exactly miss it, but still.
(16)
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2019 19:48:35 GMT -6
End: Breathe Fire
They did practice the big breaths over the course of the next few days, at which point Grunty’s reaction speed improved again, but the first day had laid the groundwork for his getting the concept down, and the rest was all just ironing out the details. It was still good practice, especially in terms of getting him ready for a theoretical confrontation where speed might be an issue, but no one expected a Thundergug to be real fast.
And Grunty hadn't, by some miracle, managed to burn anything down that he wasn't supposed to in the intervening time. To that end, Aster's plan was a wild success, as far as he was concerned. Hopefully now that he knew how to do it when he wanted, he could also... not do it when he didn't. That was how these things worked, right?
Well, he had a fire breathing Thundergug now. Wasn’t that a terrifying thought.
(17) <Count to here>
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:38:50 GMT -6
It had been a while since Aster had last worked with Grunty. In fact, the last time was probably prior to the last free-for-all tournament... That brought back memories, not all of them pleasant. Grunty hadn't been a big winner in that one, which told him they had more work to do.
It was just that there were other things vying for his attention since then, and he hadn't had a chance to seriously spend time bringing Grunty back up to snuff. But there was an endurance contest, of all things, going on, and Aster thought that might be a good motivator for him to make time.
And Grunty could use some work on his movement. That was a big one that had come back to bite them when they fought in the tournament. Maybe Grunty would never be very good against a significantly faster foe, but he might learn to... well, be a bit more nimble about getting out of the way of an attack, at least.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:39:01 GMT -6
But that would mean a lot of running. And Grunty was, by nature, not terribly motivated to exercise.
"Okay big boy," Aster said, patting the 'Gug on the side. They were situated in a big, open, grassy part of the park, everything nice and flat. "Today we're going to make you sweat."
{I don't like the sound of that,} Grunty replied. Even his voice was slow. Aster looked at him and sighed. Even after all those hours in the gym...
"Yeah, yeah. You know how it works. If you do what I ask, I'll give you a treat, alright?" Aster had given up trying to motivate Grunty any other way at this point. It was either treats or forget about getting anything out of him. And sure enough, at the promise of a treat, the Gug's ears bricked up, and his eyes brightened. He even looked a little more alert.
Aster resisted the urge to sigh.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:39:29 GMT -6
"Well... First let's have you learn to dash." Aster marked up an area with two ropes pounded into the ground, serving as markers. "When I say 'dash', you go from here to there as fast as you can, alright?" Aster gave a little demonstration, just in case. They had the ribbon, so it was a little easier to get concepts through to him, but Grunty wasn't always the brightest bulb in the box. It had been a miracle that Aster managed to teach him to breathe fire, actually.
But this was a simpler concept, and Grunty didn't seem to be confused that Aster could tell... That was probably a good sign, right?
"Ready?" Aster said. "Dash!"
... The result was pretty underwhelming. Grunty moved off at a trot. It wasn't a walk, Aster supposed, but that wasn't going to be any use in a fight. Maybe the presence of a real opponent might have motivated him further, but then again, maybe not.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:40:12 GMT -6
"Come on," Aster said, when Grunty reached the other end. Even the Gug looked a bit sheepish, though that didn't stop him from trying to nose at Aster's pockets. But Aster shoved his nose firmly away. "You think that was dashing? I know you can move faster. I've seen it."
{But it's so much work...} the Gug said plaintively.
"Do you want the treat or not?" Aster crossed his arms, voice stern. It brought him no joy to do this, especially after working with Summer and Azalea, who generally didn't need to be bullied into doing what he needed them to do, but if you didn't lay down the law with Grunty, he was prone to putting in less effort than you'd like.
Grunty hung his head. {Okay. Faster,} he agreed.
"You promised, alright? Dash," Aster said.
This time the 'Gug ran faster, just like he had agreed with Aster a moment ago.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:40:59 GMT -6
The one nice thing about Grunty was that, since he wasn't all that smart, his slacking off wasn't all that clever either. Once Aster had put his foot down and called Grunty out on his attempt to cheapen out, the 'Gug sort of just... assumed that Aster would cotton on if he tried again. So this time, Grunty did really run with his full effort.
It wasn't fast, exactly, not on a creature of his size, but his attempt at doing a sprint was about what Aster's sprinting pace would be if he ran alongside. Which, considering 'Gugs weren't exactly speedy to begin with, was good enough for now. "Not bad," Aster said. "Here." Aster, at least, was as good as his word, and gave Grunty a bit of bamboo to snack on. The 'Gug ate it with great relish, though also great speed, and was at once looking around for more.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:41:19 GMT -6
"Ah ah, no more treats til you do the work," Aster said. It was a good thing that Grunty was such a glutton, so he didn't fill up fast. Their training sessions would be woefully short if he filled up too quickly. "Get on the mark... Okay, dash!" Grunty ran again, about as quickly as last time, so the result wasn't disappointing in that sense... but Aster could see, in the immediate aftermath, just how winded he was.
{This... This is so... tiring...} Grunty did his best to look extra pitiful, but Aster could tell he wasn't faking his heavy breathing. The bit where he sank to his knees and then laid himself down on the ground was a bit melodramatic though.
"Get up, you big lug," Aster said. "Or else I'm not giving you your treat."
{So... cruel...} Grunty did rise to his feet, though he made a big show of that too.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:41:42 GMT -6
He even went so far as to grumble after Aster fed him the piece of bamboo that he had earned. {I don't want to run anymore,} he said dolefully.
"Hmm... Well, maybe you can take a break from dashing around," Aster said. He did know that this kind of endurance took time to build up, and he didn't want to well and truly overwork Grunty. The 'Gug was already starting to lie back down, but Aster tapped his side. "Hey, hey, I didn't say you could take a nap. Stay up. You don't have to dash again right now, but I want you to keep moving. When I say 'run', I want you to start running, alright? It doesn't have to be fast, but you've got to keep it up."
{Nooooo...} Grunty protested, but in truth, his breathing had already slowed in the time it took for just this little exchange.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:41:58 GMT -6
Gugs were hardy creatures, with good reserves of stamina. He ought to take better to running than he did to sprints, at the very least.
"Yes," Aster said. "I'll give you a treat after, and I'll run with you this time, alright?" He didn't take no for an answer, and at length he managed to bribe and strong arm the Gug into complying. "Ready? Run," Aster said.
It was less of a run and more of a... jog, but Grunty did it. Or at least, he ran from one rope to the other anyway, and then tried to stop. "No no, keep going," Aster said. Thinking quickly, because he had forgotten to specify a distance, he found a small bush some ways away from them. "To that thing. You see it?"
{The bush... That's so far,} said Grunty. Aster, jogging alongside him, brandished a treat. Grunty snorted. {Okay... I guess if I have to.}
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:42:13 GMT -6
He didn't go any faster, but at least he didn't try stopping again.
True to Aster's expectations, he was better at the running than the sprinting. He got to the bush without too much trouble, and he didn't seem out of breath when he got there either. "Good job," Aster said, feeding the Gug his treat. Aster was pretty sure the praise did nothing, and it was entirely the appeal of the treat that was motivating Grunty, but he said it anyway.
Grunty, no longer dog tired, made a contented noise as he ate.
"Ready to go again?" Aster said, and immediately regretted asking. Why did he bother when he knew the answer was going to be no? For that matter, Grunty didn't even bother answering, probably sensing that Aster was going to overrule him anyway. Aster moved a short distance away, about the same length as he had set with the ropes earlier.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:42:29 GMT -6
"You'll be running until you get to me, alright? Dash," Aster said.
Grunty gave another groan, but he wasn't quite tired enough to fight Aster, not if there was the promise of a treat in play. He moved off at his faster pace to where Aster was, by which point he was breathing a little heavily. "Good," Aster said, feeding him another treat. "Walk with me for a bit." Aster let him recover by walking the length of another 'dash', then gave a different command. "Run!"
Grunty didn't immediately move this time though. {Until where?} the Gug asked.
Aster was about to say 'to the ropes', but they were a bit hard to see from where they were. "That's a good question," Aster said. "You know what, until I say stop." The Gug looked at him incredulously, but Aster shrugged. "You want the treat or not?"
{Okay... But don't make it too far,} Grunty said.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:43:00 GMT -6
Aster wordlessly agreed. There was no point in making unreasonable demands of Grunty; all that would do was erode the Gug's trust in Aster. That would have been a counter intuitive move for a trainer to make with a creature they were working with.
"Run," Aster said. He kept pace with Grunty this time too, which wasn't an easy thing on him either. Aster didn't have Grunty's endurance or his size, and even though they weren't traveling at sprinting speed, it was still quite a distance. It was a good thing he was in good shape, but even then, he didn't want to be doing this for too much longer.
When they reached the ropes, Aster said. "Stop." Grunty didn't need to be told that one twice. He stumbled to a stop, then came back to Aster for his treat. "Yeah, yeah. It's tasty, huh?" Aster said, watching him eat it.
{It's tasty,} Grunty agreed.
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Post by Noa on Apr 15, 2020 22:43:31 GMT -6
Aster gave him a little more of a break, then led him back to the ropes. "Dash," Aster said. Grunty moved off at a run again from one end to another. He was getting the general idea down. Speed... Well, Aster wanted to see first if he would improve on his own, but if not, then maybe he would try something else to motivate Grunty at a later session, once he had built up his endurance a little further. For now, Aster was satisfied.
"Dash," he said again, once Grunty reached the other side. Grunty gave a groan, but managed another dash. It seemed that two was his effective limit at the moment, though Aster hoped that would improve with time too.
Aster gave him a little more time to rest and get his energy back before pointing out the bush to him again. "Just like last time," Aster said. "Run!"
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