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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 3, 2022 13:19:59 GMT -6
The next trick was the one they had been waiting for- fly. Fiera was admittedly a little nervous. She had taught creatures to fly before, but none that were big enough for her to ride... and certainly none that she was already sitting on. Still, she had certainly done MORE dangerous things in her lifetime, so none of that was about to stop her. She already knew her stick and meat trick worked to get Orpheus moving in a direction, which meant if she was lucky she could use it to get him to move UP as well. If she dangled it above his head, she was thinking that he would try to jump and get it, but as it moved with him he would jump higher and higher before eventually taking off. It was the best plan she could think of... and honestly, the only one she really had.
Fiera 6
Orpheus 20.1/20.1
Fly 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 3, 2022 14:44:17 GMT -6
There was no time like the present though, so the humanish got to work. Fiera tied a nice, juicy chunk of meat onto the string before thrusting the stick out in front of Orpheus's face. She saw his head twitch to look at it immediately, so she lifted it up and up, until it was sitting at an angle above his head. The alurook screeched quietly and snapped his beak at it, but couldn't quite reach. Whenever he moved forward, so did the meat- or more specifically, so did Fiera holding the meat, seeing as she was perched upon his back. She did her best to keep herself steady, her hands tightly gripping the handles on his saddle and her knees squeezing his sides. He reached out again, more insistently this time, snapping his beak at it with a loud clattering sound. Fiera was tense- he wasn't going to be able to get it, but would he keep trying?
Fiera 7
Orpheus 20.2/20.2
Fly 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 3, 2022 15:12:10 GMT -6
Before she could even guess, he answered. Fiera felt her stomach fluttered as the alurook dropped, crouching down. Then he pushed off and gave a mighty leap, flapping his wings as he grabbed at the meat. Fiera watched as the meat swung and caught itself on the edge of his beak. Orpheus landed, happily chewing on the meat he managed to catch. Before too much time could pass, Fiera was sure to praise him. "Oh! Good job- good fly, Orpheus!" She said with a laugh, her hair slightly ruffled. It was a good start- and she was sure she could push him even harder. Once he had finished eating, Fiera reeled the thread back and tied another lump of meat to it, before she cast it out again in a motion reminiscent of her days by the river bend. "Okay Orpheus, let's try this again. Fly!" She said, trying to give the order.
Fiera 8
Orpheus 20.3/20.3
Fly 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 3, 2022 18:42:17 GMT -6
It was clear that Orpheus knew that jumping could get him the meat by now, as he almost immediately tried it again when he saw it pass into view. Fiera gripped on as hard as she could as he jumped and leapt through the field, flapping his wings harder and harder as he tried to grab the treat. One could easily mistake it for a bird themed rodeo at arm's length, and Fiera's struggling grip only confirmed it. Still, Orpheus only leapt higher and higher as he attempted to grab the treat, rising higher in the air each time. Occasionally he'd actually get it, at which point Fiera would praise him and confirm the command before frantically stringing on another one. Soon he was leaping nearly twenty feet in the air each time, his wingbeats getting more coordinated and his legs folding up entirely under him, until eventually he leapt up...
Fiera 9
Orpheus 20.4/20.4
Fly 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 3, 2022 18:51:28 GMT -6
And flew. Fiera had to admit, she made a not entirely undignified noise as the ground spiraled away below her. On reflex she pulled the stick back in, but Orpheus hardly noticed the meat disappearing. It was like finally learning how to ride a bike, the balance and coordination you needed finally coming together in the necessary movements. And the exhilaration- it must have been amazing for him. Fiera called out a few "good jobs" and "good fly"s, but he hardly seemed to need the encouragement. She watched as his head twitched and glanced about, how his wings trembled as he figured out how to ride the thermals. It was freezing up here, but Fiera's heart was pumping so hard she hardly noticed. And yet... she could feel, beneath the saddle, Orpheus's heart pumping too. It must be nice... to not know what you needed, but still getting it in the end regardless.
Fiera 10
Orpheus 21.0/21.0
Fly 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 9:45:27 GMT -6
As much as the humanish wanted to keep training Orpheus, she was... pretty sure she couldn't right now. Her body was frozen with what she was INSISTING wasn't fear, but was maybe... an emotion adjacent to that. Within that general family of feelings. The wind whipped her hair back behind her, and she had to will her lungs to start taking in air again. It was just as freezing as she thought it would be, but with the way her heart was pounding and the adrenaline was rushing, she could barely feel it. It occurred to her suddenly that while she had taught plenty of creatures to fly and plenty of creatures to let her sit on their back, she had never managed to teach any of them to do both at the same time before... until now, that is. Apparently the combination had proven too difficult for her to bother trying until now.
Fiera 1
Orpheus 21.1/21.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 9:49:16 GMT -6
And she could see why- this was a little much for her. She should keep going, call out another trick or command, but really she just had to calm down a bit first. The humanish focused on taking deep breaths while hoping Orpheus wasn't getting too far away from where they had parked her things. In fact, she glanced off the side of his body for a moment to check. She then had to try very hard to not immediately throw up as it turned out they were quite high up indeed. The trees were mere blurry blobs beneath her, though that might have been because of how hard her eyes were watering in the stinging wind. She could still recognize the shape of the clearing they had been training in however, wide, open, and dotted with trees. She couldn't quite see her equipment though, but she could make a good guess as to where it was.
Fiera 2
Orpheus 21.2/21.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 9:52:12 GMT -6
That meant that they weren't getting off track... and in fact, Orpheus didn't seem to be in any great rush to get out of here. She watched as his head twitched from side to side, but instead of beating his wings and soaring off into the wide blue yonder, he simply tilted his body to one side and slid over, turning in a wide circle around the clearing on the ground. She wondered for a moment why he didn't, but... it occurred to her that he might be just as nervous as she was. It was his first time flying too after all, and there was no way he was familiar with his surroundings. What would he even do? Where would he even go? The humanish pressed her cheek back down to the saddle, listening carefully. Sure enough, his heart was pounding as loud as anything beneath the hardened leather.
Fiera 3
Orpheus 21.3/21.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 9:55:06 GMT -6
It wasn't that Fiera enjoyed hearing her pets in distress- far from it, of course- but she had to admit it was a little comforting knowing that her and Orpheus were in the same boat, so to speak. This was just as alien an experience to both of them, and the fact that he was hesitating meant that he was likely looking for some sort of guidance from his owner. He didn't necessarily LIKE Fiera very much, but even he had to admit that she had always been there for him ever since he was a hatchling. Like it or not, she was some manner of mother figure for him, and if anyone knew where to go from here, it was her. She just had to come up with some sort of game plan first, something for them to do before heading back down to the ground. She drummed her fingers on the saddle.
Fiera 4
Orpheus 21.4/21.4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 9:59:51 GMT -6
What to do? Orpheus was waiting on her, so she needed to get her shit together, so to speak. This wasn't the worst situation she had ever been in, and being a little spooked wasn't any excuse to shut down. What sort of soldier was she if she couldn't keep her wits together? A pretty piss poor one; her compatriots would be ashamed. Well. They were already ashamed of her, that's why she was exiled. But whatever. She glanced down at the reins in front of her- she hadn't bothered using them yet, why would she? You didn't really need to steer when the only direction you wanted a bird going in was "up". But perhaps teaching Orpheus more control over himself wouldn't go astray... or at least, teaching him what that big ol' piece of leather around his face was supposed to be doing. She didn't buy it for nothing, after all.
Fiera 5
Orpheus 22.0/22.0
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 13:27:22 GMT -6
With Orpheus not really knowing where to go and with Fiera not really able to get down, considering that she was, you know, over a hundred feet in the air on the back of an alurook, Fiera figured it was as good a time as any to teach Orpheus how his bridle worked. She had recently purchased one designed specially for avian creatures, and while he had put up a bit of a fuss putting it on at first, soon he was as used to it as any other piece of his tack. And Fiera was quite glad for it now, as the reins gave her a convenient item to keep in a death grip while the ground zipped by below them. She gently tugged on one side of the reins. "Okay Orpheus- right!" She said, pairing it with a command he already knew. Hopefully he would easily be able to connect the two dots. Fiera 6 Orpheus 22.1/22.1 Bridle Knowledge 1 |
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 13:34:55 GMT -6
Sure enough, the alurook began turning to the right almost as soon as she pulled the rein, with the tension on the front of the bridle making it more comfortable for him to turn his head to the right and have the rest of his body follow suit. She let him soar that way for a few moments, watching as the field they had been training in slowly rotated beneath them, before she released it. "Good job, Orpheus!" She said, too terrified to try feeding him a treat right now. She needed all of her hands and all of her legs placed firmly on either the saddle or the reins. Still, she did have herself together enough to repeat the trick with the other side. "Orpheus, left!" She said, once again pairing it with a known trick to get him to perform better. As expected, his head began turning to the left.
Fiera 7
Orpheus 22.2/22.2
Bridle Knowledge 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 13:38:09 GMT -6
Once again, Fiera watched as the ground soared by beneath them, this time in the opposite direction. This time Fiera felt a bit more confident, and slipped a small chunk of meat from the packet on her leg. With the reins wrapped around one wrist, she tied it to the stick and string she had managed to drag up with her and swung it in front of Orpheus's face, as if she were fishing. It was awkward, but it had worked for her so far. "Good job, Orpheus!" She called, hoping that her words weren't immediately dragged away by the wind. The treat wasn't though, and soon Fiera was able to pull back the stick and now empty string and put it away just as quickly, returning to her seat on the saddle. This time, she had something else she wanted to try, and pulled back on the reins and slightly up.
Fiera 8
Orpheus 22.3/22.3
Bridle Knowledge 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 13:47:06 GMT -6
"Up, Orpheus!" She said, hoping he would take the cue and go up. Sure enough, it angled his jaw upward, and he ascended- albeit slowing down in the process. Not wanting to get too high however (and risk losing her breath... or just freezing at this rate), Fiera soon repeated the action but pulled the reins down. "Down!" She shouted, and he followed suit, the sudden jerk to his chin pulling him back down. With a bit of practice, Fiera was soon able to pull him level again, surprised that he had taken to it so easily. She swung out another treat for him, just to be safe. Now all she had to do was get him to slow down or speed up... though if she had to pick, slowing down a bit would be nice. She mulled it over for a second, before pulling the reins straight back, pushing her elbows out behind her.
Fiera 9
Orpheus 22.4/22.4
Bridle Knowledge 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 8, 2022 14:32:45 GMT -6
"Slow down, Orpheus!" She said, hoping it would stick. The crested alurook seemed surprised as the sudden jerk back, his head shrinking back into his shoulders as his wings fluttered, unsure. Sure enough though, his moment of hesitation did count as him slowing down, and Fiera was quick to reward him for it, swinging another treat in front of his face. After that, she waited until he had calmed down enough to try again. Then, she flicked the reins, letting them rustle the feathers on either side of his head. "Orpheus, speed up!" She said, shouting over the wind. It didn't do anything- so she tried again, slowly irritating him. Eventually the alurook screeched, pulling forward if just to escape the irritation. "Oh, good job!" Fiera said, but she had to make him slow down again before feeding him the treat. She repeated these movements dozens of times, until eventually Orpheus was soaring around the sky to her heart's desire. Another trick, learned.
Fiera 10
Orpheus 23.0/23.0
Bridle Knowledge 5
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