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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 1, 2021 11:57:11 GMT -6
It was getting a bit late in the year for Misery to be out in the public park without any assistance. The air only continued to get colder and colder as time went on, slowing down any and all reptilian creatures that entered the park. The mammals and birds were still out and about, as it still hadn't even started snowing yet. But she could tell that this wasn't Misery's ideal temperature. She was hoping that would help in a way- perhaps it would make him more sluggish and less likely to get distracted or give her sass... or maybe it would just make him less likely to pay attention. She would just have to wait and see. Either way, the salaves wasn't at his quickest today, slithering right next to Fiera along the narrow walkway, trying to stay off of the even colder grass that surrounded it on either side. Fiera 6 Misery 12.1/7.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 17:00:06 GMT -6
"How you feeling back there?" Fiera asked casually, only for him to narrow his eyes at her. "Okay, so maybe not great then." She chuckled. Hopefully they could find a somewhat warmish spot for him to sit, though there wasn't much of it right now. It had rained the previous night and while the sidewalk had dried off nicely, the grass was still wet. She could hear the salaves scuttling along the ground behind her, no doubt staring daggers through her head. Despite his relatively alien appearance, Misery was supposed to be a very intelligent creature (or so the purveyor of the store she had purchased him from had promised). It felt a little offensive to be yanking him along on a lead like this, but until he learned to not run away she wasn't sure that she could trust him without it. At least it was a very nice lead.
Fiera 7 Misery 12.2/7.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 17:02:28 GMT -6
The humanish squinted into the distance. "Is that... oh, that might work!" She said, pointing ahead of them. It was a fenced in training area, similar to the ones she had used to teach her pets battle moves before. Most of them had soft grass in the interior, or perhaps packed earth. Based on the color of this one though, it looked like green concrete, similar to a tennis court. Fiera hadn't seen this area before, but the public park was plenty large- it was no surprise that there were corners of it even she hadn't discovered yet. "Alright Misery, let's try it out." She said, practically dragging the serpent down there. If her suspicions were correct, the ground there would be warmer than the rest of the ground out here due to its smooth surface and dark color. That would make Misery a little bit more active and comfortable.
Fiera 8 Misery 12.3/7.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 17:09:23 GMT -6
If Misery knew that however, he didn't show it. Instead the salaves seemed downright... well, miserable as she yanked him along. Hopefully he would change his tune once they got in there, Fiera thought. After a few short minutes they were pulling up to the gate, secured by a simple latch and loop. That wouldn't be enough to keep any intelligent creature out, Fiera mused, but hopefully it would be enough to keep Misery in. Though if the ground was as warm as she was hoping, he would be tempted enough to stay in all on his own. It took her only a moment to flip the latch and step inside, ushering her salaves in after her. "Come on, Misery! You're nearly there!" She encouraged as he slithered over the threshold... and seemed to feel instant relief. Fiera crouched down and placed her palm on the concrete ground, feeling the texture under her fingers.
Fiera 9 Misery 12.4/7.4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 17:11:45 GMT -6
Sure enough, it was dry and warm. The salaves instantly sunk to the ground, spreading out his wing membranes to bask for a few minutes as Fiera got set up. His dark, black and purple scales meant that he would have an easy time heating up even under the weak autumn light. Meanwhile, she sat down her cooler full of treats, some cheap plastic barriers she had brought in preparation for teaching him a specific trick, and her backpack full of other training knick-knacks. It had been quite some effort to get them, herself, and her pet here, but now that they were all together her training session with Misery could finally begin. Still, she gave it a few minutes before they got started, letting Misery warm up to an acceptable temperature. He deserved a rest after the effort it took for them to get here, after all. Fiera crouched down and waited.
Fiera 10 Misery 13.0/8.0
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 18:06:45 GMT -6
Once Misery was nice and warm however, Fiera figured it was time to start training. She had brought plenty of food for him, a staple for rewarding good and desired behavior in training... though hopefully it wouldn't be quite as necessary on a sapient creature. Still, she had some nice chunks of cooked chicken for him, fresh and easy to eat. Hopefully it would be to his taste, or else she figured they wouldn't be getting too much done today. First things first though, she figured he wanted the leash off as much as she did when having to drag around a sapient creature, so... teaching him to follow her was probably a good first place to start. She popped open the cooler, plucking out a chunk of chicken and tossing it around a bit before letting it land in one of her palms. Misery noticed this almost immediately, flicking out his tongue.
Fiera 1 Misery 13.1/8.1 Follow 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 18:15:04 GMT -6
"Oh, you want this?" Fiera said, gesturing to the meat. "Well come on then, follow me!" She said, putting forward the command word for the first time. He didn't know what it meant yet of course, but his tongue flickered faster as he slowly approached, drawn in by the scent of the food. Fiera wasn't going to let him have it though- or at least, not right away. "Come on, that's it! Follow me!" She said as he approached. When he was only a few feet away however, she began backing up, step by slow step. "Follow!" She repeated again, hoping that he would continue to trundle along after her. Unfortunately, after just a few steps the jig was up, and Misery seemed to realize what she was doing, playing keep away with his treat. Rather than let him get angry with her however, she decided to reward him the second he stopped.
Fiera 2 Misery 13.2/8.2 Follow 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 18:19:04 GMT -6
She tossed him the chicken and gave him a brief moment of praise. "Okay, good! Good follow, Misery!" She said. Internally, she wished he had gone on for a little bit longer, but overall she wanted him to understand that if he performed well, he would get a treat. The salaves struck like lightning however, grabbing the chunk out of the air before she could even blink before retreating to his former spot, eating it with slow, laborous smacks of his mouth before swallowing it whole. "...Good! Glad you enjoyed it." Fiera said with a nervous chuckle, glad that... he liked his food. "Uh, anyway!" She said, running over to the cooler. She grabbed a couple of chunks of chicken now, loading herself up for a repeat. Then she trotted back to her pet. "Let's try that again! Follow me, Misery!" She said, before she started backing away again, the chicken held low to the ground.
Fiera 3 Misery 13.3/8.3 Follow 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 18:29:45 GMT -6
Misery seemed to eye her for a bit, and Fiera was worried he wouldn't go along with it at first. But slowly but surely he approached her, even as she was shuffling away from her. He didn't seem to ENJOY it mind you, but he followed along. She was even able to get him to make a complete loop around the training area like that, slithering after the humanish until they ended up where they began. "Oh, good job Misery!" Fiera said with a chuckle, tossing him the piece of chicken as a reward. He snapped it up just as quickly as the last piece, grabbing it out of midair. He hadn't even slowed for that one, which was a fantastic sign. Still, he would have to know to do it even WITHOUT the promise of food, so she would have to try it with just the command word now and see if it worked.
Fiera 4 Misery 13.4/8.4 Follow 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 18:56:30 GMT -6
First, she gave the void salaves a bit of time to finish his meal in that... unwholesome fashion he was accustomed to. You'd never catch HER eating like that, that was for sure. When he was done however he looked up at her expectantly. He was undoubtedly waiting for Fiera to offer him another piece of meat, but this time she decided to try something different. "Okay Misery... follow!" She said, and turned on her heel and started walking. She held her breath... but soon heard the distinctive sound of scales against concrete following her, his gliding membranes held tight to his sides. "Oh thank goodness." She whispered under her breath, bringing him around for another loop. Finally they ended up right where they started and Fiera breathed a sigh of relief. "Good follow there, Misery!" She complimented, glad that the serpent followed her instructions. "Now, how about we try something else."
Fiera 5 Misery 14.0/9.0 Follow 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 19:15:39 GMT -6
Fiera also wanted to try to teach him how to actually USE those wing membranes he kept pressed to his sides. Salaves were supposed to be able to glide- she had seen it in illustrations plenty of times, after all. And yet she hadn't seen Misery even so much as attempt the action since she had bought him. Granted, she hadn't had him for too long, but she was pretty sure that if he knew how to glide to any level of effectiveness he would have tried it by now. So that meant that it was up to her to teach him, one way or another. Unfortunately, he was a bit too large and ornery for her to simply pick him up and set him on tall objects to let him muddle his own way down like she did with a lot of her smaller flying creatures... so she would have to get creative.
Fiera 6 Misery 14.1/9.1 Glide 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 6, 2021 19:19:18 GMT -6
It looked like there had been some rockier areas of the public park near this training area- perhaps she could induce him to follow her in there, climb up a rock, and jump off? She supposed it was as good a plan as any. The fence around here was too short for him to have to jump off; he could simply slither down. So with that in mind, Fiera gathered up her things once more and made her way out of the fenced off area once more. "Misery, follow!" She offered over her shoulder. The salaves glared at her for a moment, as if gauging whether or not it would be worth his while to go back into the cold after her... but eventually he relented, slithering along after her hesitantly. At least he was well exercised and worked up now, Fiera mused. His ectothermic body wouldn't be slowing down again any time soon.
Fiera 7 Misery 14.2/9.2 Glide 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 7, 2021 11:20:04 GMT -6
As they crested the hill, Fiera saw it- sure enough, there was a massive rocky slope back down again, full of sharp drops and precipices. It was clear from the hand rail that had been placed there that the builders of the park didn't intend for anyone to walk down there... but that wasn't about to stop her. "Let's try this out, Misery." She said, and stepped off the beaten trail. She ducked under the rail quickly and Misery hesitantly followed, slithering onto the rougher ground. Fiera was careful about climbing down- after the disastrous events of her last mining session (which were no doubt fresh in misery's mind as well seeing as he was there too), she was set to be very careful about descending tall cliffs. She managed to make it too the bottom of the five foot slope safely however, and looked back up at her salaves.
Fiera 8 Misery 14.3/9.3 Glide 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 7, 2021 11:24:15 GMT -6
"Okay Misery, follow me! Glide!" She said cheerily, putting her hands on her hips. Misery looked down at her hesitantly. He could probably slither down a slope that steep, but there was a non-zero chance that it would end with him losing his grip and tumbling down the rest of it face first, and he knew it. So instead she saw him bunch himself up carefully, readying himself... and he made a brief hop from the top of the ridge, splaying out his insectine legs (and thus his gliding membranes) instinctually to steady himself as he sailed toward the ground. He landed safely at Fiera's feet before gathering himself up into a pile to check himself over. Fiera grinned. It was only a very short jump, but he had done exactly what she was hoping for, starting out the process that she knew he could develop into the ability to fully glide.
Fiera 9 Misery 14.4/9.4 Glide 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Nov 7, 2021 11:32:21 GMT -6
"Great glide, Misery!" She said, repeating the command word. The salaves seemed surprised as she tossed another piece of chicken down to him. He hadn't done anything... had he? But by the time he grabbed it Giera was already off again, making her way down another slope. She carefully slid down this one, making sure she wasn't hitting the ground too hard and reaggravating any injuries. She looked up the slope toward where she knew Misery was again. This one was a little higher but just as steep, but she figured that if he misjudged his jump she could always move over and catch him. After all, the next drop was still a few feet away behind her so if he overshot they had a bit of wiggle room, so to speak. "Are you ready, Misery?" She said, and saw his distinctive black nose peek out over the top of the cliff.
Fiera 10 Misery 15.0/10.0 Glide 5
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