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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 3, 2020 10:53:44 GMT -6
It was the season of vai min mur, and that meant getting ready for the contests that blossomed this time of year. The freak show was always an especially popular one this time of year, especially for Fiera considering she won it with her ghaenelt Lionel last year. This year she didn’t have anything quite as good, but she figured it was a good opportunity to get some training in on her equillion, Arethusa. They had spent a little bit of time together, but nothing major so far. Well, that was going to change today. Even if Fiera was only able to teach her a couple of tricks today, that would be enough. She led the equillion into a fenced off training area in the public park, perfect for teaching a pet various tricks. The equillion sniffed around curiously, flicking her odd ears. Fiera thought she was beautiful, but for an equillion she supposed she was “freakish” enough to count for the contest. Fiera 6 Arethusa 4.1/4.1 Name 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 3, 2020 10:53:57 GMT -6
Luckily, Fiera had brought plenty of treats for the odd equillion to get her used to being trained. While Arethusa wandered around the pen and got used to her surroundings, Fiera went ahead and dropped a cooler on the ground that she knew was stuffed to the brim with scraps of meat. She got them for cheap from butchers shops across the city, and she knew that her carnivorous pets always went nuts for them. Sure enough, the minute Fiera opened the cooler and took out a half frozen piece of meat, Arethusa’s ears flicked up and she looked over at Fiera. “Arethusa!” Fiera called, and the equillion looked even more interested. “Good girl!” The humanish praised, tossing the equillion the chunk of meat as a prize for responding to her name. It was only a small trick, but it was always the best place to start when training a brand new pet.
Fiera 7 Arethusa 4.2/4.2 Name 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 3, 2020 10:54:14 GMT -6
Obviously, meat eating equillions weren’t the norm in the Labs City, but Arethusa was a bit of an exception, being the offspring of two different customs. It left her with an odd metabolism and some… interesting abilities and moves that Fiera intended to make full use of in the contest. When she finished eating that chunk of meat, Fiera held up another one. “Arethusa!” She called again. This time the equillion looked up even faster now that she was starting to make the connection between her name and the treats. Fiera was happy to reward her, throwing it toward her. She bucked up a little bit and snatched the treat out of the air, swallowing it without chewing like a bird of prey. It was a little gross and strange for an otherwise elegant creature, but Fiera supposed not everything about her could be pretty, despite her appearance implying otherwise.
Fiera 8 Arethusa 4.3/4.3 Name 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 3, 2020 10:54:33 GMT -6
Still, Arethusa did need to know her name, not just respond to treats, which meant that Fiera couldn’t keep feeding her forever. She’d have to give it a go without meat in hand for once. “Okay… Arethusa!” Fiera called, holding her hands up to direct her voice at the equillion. To her disappointment, Arethusa didn’t respond and instead kept sniffing around at the grass growing between the planks of the fence keeping her in the training area. The humanish huffed and decided to get a little louder. “Arethusa!” She called again, a bit sharper this time. Finally her pet relented and looked up at her, more slowly and- if Fiera thought she was capable of this- nigh sarcastically. “...Good girl.” Fiera begrudged, and threw her a rather small chunk of meat. She was trying to wean her off it after all, but she did want Arethusa to know she did the right thing.
Fiera 9 Arethusa 4.4/4.4 Name 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 3, 2020 10:54:49 GMT -6
Fiera let Arethusa go back to wandering around and looking pretty, but after a minute or so she decided to get back to business. “Arethusa!” She said again even though she wasn’t holding a treat this time, and to her surprise her equillion looked up rather quickly this time. It looked like the name had stuck! “Good job, Arethusa!” She praised, but didn’t throw a chunk of meat this time. Instead Fiera gave it a bit of time and tried again a few times. Sure enough, each time the euqillion looked up and responded to her name without needing to be fed. With that in mind, Fiera decided that she could check this trick off of her list. Arethusa had taken her first step to becoming a better trained pet, and Fiera could only hope she did as well on her future tricks. They had a lot to learn, after all.
Fiera 10 Arethusa 5.0/5.0 Name 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:43:40 GMT -6
The next couple of things Fiera wanted to teach Arethusa were actually fighting moves instead of obedience tricks. Basic obedience tricks were nice after all, but they weren’t exactly going to wow the judges. For an obedience trial that might work, but not the freak show. It was one of the busiest and most exciting contests of the year, and Fiera knew they would have to really hustle this year if they wanted to stand out. Thankfully, Arethusa had some tricks up her non-existant sleeves. Her parents had granted her some… INTERESTING physiology which could definitely be considered “Freakish” for an equillion. The scales were one thing, the ears another, but the fact that she had sharp fangs that dripped with venom, a taste for meat, and a terrifying laugh instead of a whinny were another thing entirely. In comparison to other equillion, Arethusa was a nightmare on four hooves.
Fiera 1 Arethusa 5.1/5.1 Sleeping Venom 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:43:55 GMT -6
To Fiera though, she was just a big prissy baby who never wanted to go anywhere. Thankfully, this pen wasn’t the kind she could escape from easily to attempt to go home. The walls were too high for her to even attempt to leap over, but it was easy for her to see outside. There were also various pieces of training equipment around for public use, though Fiera wasn’t sure how much they’d end up using them. She had her own piece of equipment today- an arm bracer with a soft, thick pad on the side that faced out, like a foam shield. It would give Arethusa something to aim at and Fiera could move around to keep her equillion on her toes, but it would keep Fiera safe from any actual harm and not train Arethusa to actually bite her owner. Without further ado, Fiera strapped it onto her arm and hoped for the best.
Fiera 2 Arethusa 5.2/5.2 Sleeping Venom 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:44:23 GMT -6
The move she actually had in mind was apparently called “sleeping venom”. A few creatures in the labs had access to this special venom, and while it was rare Arethusa was one of them. When a creature was struck with it, they fell asleep nigh instantaneously, leaving their opponent free to do what they wanted to their now vulnerable body. It was terrifying, and Fiera was sure the contest’s audience would appreciate it. She had only seen Arethusa use it a couple times though, usually while lashing out to grab some food or while trying to eat a passing insect. It was different from her regular venom, and had a very distinctive smell to it which let Fiera know that she was using it as opposed to her normal venom. After all, Fiera wasn’t about to try it on herself and she figured it would probably be cruel to use another living creature as a “training dummy” to make sure the venom was “working right”.
Fiera 3 Arethusa 5.3/5.3 Sleeping Venom 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:44:41 GMT -6
It smelled a bit like… well, “toothpaste, but evil” was about the right idea for it. Or maybe mint leaves that had gone rotten. Almost pleasant, but with the joy leaving your face once you thought about it for a few moments. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her to use it. After all, she knew that Arethusa had “regular” venom and “sleeping” venom, so she had to get her equillion to select the right one. Maybe if she wanted the opponent to stop moving first as opposed to actually killing them right away. Perhaps a moving target would work best? She would have to convince Arethusa that she needed to bite it to start with however. With that in mind, Fiera got out a particularly long strip of meat and draped it over the top of the plush arm guard, watching as Arethusa perked up at the sight of it.
Fiera 4 Arethusa 5.4/5.4 Sleeping Venom 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:45:05 GMT -6
Her immediate enthusiasm as she trotted over was a little terrifying, but Fiera was willing to get into it. “Okay, Arethusa- sleepytime!” She said, picking a… well, quite silly command word for it, but she figured it got the point across alright. She saw Arethusa’s ear flick, indicating that she had heard it, but the equillion’s eyes were thoroughly trained on the chunk of meat. As she leaned out to grab it however, Fiera quickly darted out of the way, strafing to the side. Arethusa glared at her and a low hiss came from her throat. “Gotta be quicker than that, Arrie!” Fiera chided jokingly, still backing away. “Or make your opponent slow down.” She said with a wink, though she knew the equillion didn’t understand her. “Now come on, sleepytime!” She encouraged as Arethusa got ready to lunge at her a second time, this time with quite a bit more energy in her strike than her last attempt.
Fiera 5 Arethusa 6.0/6.0 Sleeping Venom 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:45:29 GMT -6
There was a faint whiff of… something in the air as Arethusa drew closer, and Fiera realized it was the distinctive smell of the sleeping venom. Perfect! She allowed herself to slow down so Arethusa could finally grab her reward off of the thick padding around Fiera’s arm. It was only a glancing blow, just enough for her to grab the meat. “Good job, Arethusa! Good sleepytime!” The humanish praised, happy to have finally found a way to convince her to use it, even if the equillion couldn’t necessarily use words. While she choked down her treat, Fiera scurried back to the cooler so she could reload with another one, hoping she could get Arethusa to make more accurate and more deadly strikes in the future. Still, this was a great starting point. She selected another fresh strip of meat and draped it over the arm padding again.
Fiera 6 Arethusa 6.1/6.1 Sleeping Venom 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:45:46 GMT -6
Arethusa seemed ready for it this time, stalking around Fiera like a creature much more predatory than an equillion, that was for sure. Fiera was ready as well though, and gave the command as soon as possible. “Arethusa, sleepytime!” She called out, and soon that not-toothpaste smell filled the air again, more strongly this time. Sure enough, Arethusa leaped at the arm padding, biting down a lot harder than before. Her fangs actually went through the meat this time and into the padding, the acrid scent filling Fiera’s nostrils. The humanish tried not to gag at the near sweet scent, though it was easy enough to shake Arethusa off, who retreated with her prize, hissing softly with victory. “Good job, good sleepytime.” Fiera said softly, trying not to cough as she breathed heavily to clear the scent from her nose. While Arethusa ate however, Fiera checked out the arm pad.
Fiera 7 Arethusa 6.2/6.2 Sleeping Venom 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:46:03 GMT -6
The damage was actually pretty superficial now that she looked at it. Her fangs had punctured the outer “skin” of the pad, but they hadn’t gone much deeper than that. Well, if Arethusa was ever going to use this in a real fight just scraping her opponent’s skin wasn’t going to help her. Granted she was being trained for a contest right now and not a tournament, but Fiera figured that the point still stood. Venom worked best when it was pushed as deep into one’s opponent as possible, so Arethusa still had a ways to go. Fiera kicked open the cooler again and grabbed another piece of meat this time, but not one as big as last time so the humanish could try weaning her off of it. Not all of her foes or targets would be literal slabs of meat after all. “Okay, Arethusa, over here!”
Fiera 8 Arethusa 6.3/6.3 Sleeping Venom 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:46:23 GMT -6
Her call didn’t go ignored and soon Arethusa trotted over to Fiera, sniffing loudly at the meat. “Arethusa, sleepytime!” Fiera ordered, pointing at the same spot on the arm guard. Arethusa whipped out her fangs even faster than last time, driving them straight into the arm guard. Fiera could feel extra pressure this time, and the scent of the venom was even stronger than before. Fiera covered her nose with her other hand, but still grinned. She was really trying this time, and the humanish was thrilled to see it. By the time Arethusa finally pulled away, the smell was almost unbearable. When she checked the pad though, the holes she had put in it were far deeper than last time, with Fiera’s finger going up to the second knuckle when she pressed a (gloved) index in there. She had the depth- now she just needed the repetition. At least that was easily done.
Fiera 9 Arethusa 6.4/6.4 Sleeping Venom 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 7, 2020 10:46:39 GMT -6
Fiera kept up with Arethusa, slowly giving her less and less meat with each repetition of the move until the strange equillion was lashing out at the bare arm guard alone. The padded structure was definitely taking some real damage now and was soaked in the vaguely minty smell. Arethusa was unenthused to not get treats at first, but after a bit of practice she was attacking just about anything Fiera pointed at. Finally, Fiera releted on practicing with her- after all, the pad they had been using was falling apart at the seams by now and Fiera didn’t want to get hit with any actual venom herself. She didn’t quite trust Arethusa to not take advantage of her in that state. Still, as they both sat down panting there was a clear sense of satisfation in the air. No matter what came next, Arethusa would be just a little more prepared for it than she was before.
Fiera 10 Arethusa 7.0/7.0 Sleeping Venom 10
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