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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:08:22 GMT -6
Fiera was back in the public park with Victor, dragging him along on the leash. He was being just as cooperative as usual, which was to say he wasn’t being cooperative at all. Fiera was used to it by this point though, and knew how to train him better than before. She just had to get him over to the training grounds, heaving on the leash and grumbling loudly. “Come on, you big lug.” She said as he finally stumbled through the gate of one of the training areas. In the spring and summer these were filled with packed dirt to act as a good, default surface for training. Right now though, it was covered in a fine powdering of snow, making the whole field a somewhat blinding shade of white. Fiera was well dressed for it though, and Victor’s flame covered body meant that he didn’t even feel it.
Fiera 6 Victor 23.1/25.1 Come 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:08:39 GMT -6
With both of them comfortable and settled, Fiera supposed it was time for them to start training. She had made good progress last time, but had stopped short of teaching the rakai sarane all of his basic obedience tricks. That wouldn’t do- they were vital for further tricks, so Fiera supposed that they were the best place to start. But which one? Fiera thought about their trip here… Victor hardly wanted to listen to her when guiding him along the path. So ‘come’ would probably be the most vital one right now. She turned to her training backpack and dug out a soft cooler before unzipping it. It was positively stuffed with small chunks of meat- the ideal treat for the dragon hound. She had a couple other training tools she brought with her today, some stranger than others. Such as the full body mirror she had carried under her arm.
Fiera 7 Victor 23.2/25.2 Come 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:08:58 GMT -6
The would be a strange one to explain to someone else, but it didn’t look like there were many other people here today. Good, Victor didn’t need any distractions. The meat treats were all she’d need for this trick anyway. Getting down to business, Fiera pulled one of the chunks from the cooler, zipping it shut again and keeping it under her arm. “Victor, come!” She said, holding it up. The rakai sarane, who up until that moment had been sniffing around in the snow, looked up at her, ears pricked. He had smelled it instantly. He trotted over to her, interested for the first time in something that she was doing. She snorted, amused. If it worked, it worked. “Good boy, Victor! Good come!” She said, and offered it to him the moment he arrived at her feet. He happily took it from her hand, sitting down as he chewed.
Fiera 8 Victor 23.3/25.3 Come 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:09:13 GMT -6
While her pet was distracted, Fiera took the opportunity to put some distance between the pair of them. She trotted away as he chewed, finding a new spot in the field to plant her feet in. When she was about twenty, twenty five feet from the rakai sarane, she started sorting through the cooler again. Victor looked around when he finished his treat and spotted her, but made no move to join her. Jerk. Still, Fiera had the feeling he would come if she offered him an incentive for it. “Victor, come!” She called, and his ears pricked up, but he didn’t move… until she held up the new treat. That got him moving, and he immediately dragged himself up and began walking over to her. Fiera nodded as he approached as expected. When he arrived, she dropped the meaty treat for him. “Atta boy Victor, good come.” She said.
Fiera 9 Victor 23.4/25.4 Come 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:09:28 GMT -6
He happily ate it, and once again Fiera started trotting away. His ears perking up at ‘come’ implied that he knew the trick, but he’d need to do it without the immediate incentive of a treat. She wouldn’t always have them on her, after all. Soon the rakai realized that his owner wasn’t standing next to him anymore, and he looked around for her. By that point, she was nearly thirty feet away, and she quickly waved to him to get his attention. Then, she cupped her hands around her mouth. “Ok Victor- come!” She said. He looked at her, as if trying to figure out if she had any food for her… before sighing and getting up anyway. He trotted over to her, and even though she wasn’t holding any food, she praised him just the same. And as she scratched his head and rubbed his ears… he didn’t seem that upset at not getting any food. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Fiera was starting to think he was getting used to her.
Fiera 10 Victor 24.0/26.0 Come 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:09:50 GMT -6
With one trick done, Victor and Fiera only had one obedience trick left to learn. He… well, he definitely wasn’t Fiera’s easiest pet to train. He wasn’t dumb by any means, but unlike her other rakai sarane, Fern, he had no desire or urge to please her. He was a very independent creature, which was good if he was on his own, but he definitely wasn’t right now. As a result, trying to get him to do anything was like pulling teeth. Come had been relatively easy because he liked food, but that was one of the few ways she could actually motivate him. There was no love of snuggles or praise here. Still, if he was going to be one of her battle pets, or… do anything with her, really, he was going to have to learn to obey her. At least they had been making some progress on that front.
Fiera 1 Victor 24.1/26.1 Stay 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:10:46 GMT -6
The next trick was bound to be difficult, though. If there was one thing Victor didn’t like, it was being told ‘no’. Unfortunately, that was exactly what was expected of him for ‘stay’. Not only would he have to not go anywhere until told otherwise, he had to wait for Fiera to release him. It might as well be a fate worse than death. She hoped that he would cooperate with her though- it was all she could hope for. Besides, she still had plenty of food for the sarane to munch on, she thought as she unzipped the cooler to check. With any luck, that would grease the wheels of his obedience. Still, she did have one more thing to help her out with this- a leash. She was able to get it onto him easily enough, and tied the other end to one of the fence posts surrounding the training area.
Fiera 2 Victor 24.2/26.2 Stay 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:11:27 GMT -6
He didn’t seem too happy about being tied down, but she doubted that Victor could chew through the tough leash or dig up the fence post in the time that it would take to teach him this. “Ok Victor, stay.” She said, holding her hand up while she set down the new command word. Victor only gave her a miserable glare in response. Fiera ignored it though, and started walking away in plain sight of him. Victor huffed, and got up to go somewhere else- only to find the leash restraining him. She could hear him whine grumpily as he tried to pull away from it, but alas, he was stuck fast. Fiera smiled to herself silently, waited a few moments, and then turned around to go back to her pet. She found Victor where she left him, waiting not so patiently next to the fence, his tail lashing.
Fiera 3 Victor 24.3/26.3 Stay 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:11:44 GMT -6
He growled at her quietly. “Oh, shush. Good come, Victor!” She said, and tossed him a meat chunk. He looked at it, back to her, and decided to not look a gift equillion in the mouth. He leaned down to accept it begrudgingly, snapping it up in an instant. When he was done, Fiera nodded and opened her mouth. “Ok, stay.” She ordered again firmly, and walked away again. Best to keep it going, and strike while the iron was hot. This time, Victor didn’t try to get up and pull away, though he did paw at the ground impatiently as he was still restrained. Still, it was an improvement. Fiera was able to stay away even longer before he started fidgeting this time. She returned just as quickly though, and he seemed to perk up once she came back. “Good stay, Victor.” She said again, and fed him another treat.
Fiera 4 Victor 24.4/26.4 Stay 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 23, 2020 12:12:03 GMT -6
This time though, she also leaned down to untie his leash. She’d need him free for this next part, after all. What was the point of teaching stay if it could be accomplished with a post and a piece of rope? When he was released, Victor didn’t seem eager to get up and go, and Fiera decided to use that to her advantage. “Ok Victor, stay.” She said, and began to back away. He looked at her, but didn’t go anywhere. She sighed with relief as she reached her furthest point, with Victor still just sitting there. Fiera had to hold herself back from increasing her pace as she returned, as excited as she was for him to have learned how to do the trick. When she reached him again, she didn’t feed him a treat, but she did give him a lot of praise and rubs on the head- which he begrudgingly accepted.
Fiera 5 Victor 25.0/27.0 Stay 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 25, 2020 11:05:53 GMT -6
The training had been going well, or at least as well as it could go with a rakai that seemed determined to be as independent as possible. Trying to get Victor to obey her was like trying to beat an internet router into spitting out websites again. Desperately futile, but usually worked eventually, when the pet or device in question felt like it. Basic tricks? Those were all well and good for Fiera and Victor. He had taken to them… well, not exactly happily, but he had learned them and would perform them begrudgingly on command. Fiera could always teach him more later, but the rakai sarane seemed to have the basics of pet obedience down. There were blanks, but one could read between the lines, so to speak. Which meant that the pair of them were free to work on more complicated things… at least for a little while.
Fiera 6 Vicor 25.1/27.1 Double Image 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 25, 2020 11:06:12 GMT -6
And oh man, how complicated this next trick was going to be. Fiera had only seen videos and read written accounts of what rakai sarane were capable of. She knew that they were a very heavily elemental species, with some dripping with acid while others burst into flame at the slightest provocation. She had even heard of some being able to manipulate time itself, though she was pretty sure that one was nonsense. Needless to say, they were quite heavily connected to some otherworldly stuff. Arcane rakai sarane like Victor were no exception, according to Fiera’s research. They could even perform some real, actual magic, though their repertoire was restricted to very basic spells. Fiera knew that this made sense- while her pet was fiercely stubborn, he was no more intelligent than any other canine his size. Learning complicated spells was beyond his level of sapience, and she was amazed that he could learn anything like that at all.
Fiera 7 Victor 25.2/27.2 Double Image 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 25, 2020 11:06:32 GMT -6
His natural abilities, though. Now THOSE were something else. She had heard tell of arcane rakai sarane having a natural resistance to magic, and an amazing move in battle that very few other creatures had. That is, the ability to split oneself into two. It was called ‘Double Image’, and Fiera had never heard of a creature that could do that before. It wasn’t in an ameobic fashion, but instead involved creating a magical, illusory copy. It was impressive to say the very least, though Fiera was a little nervous about trying to teach it. Not that she would tell anyone that, of course. After all, she still had some experience teaching magically inclined pets. She had taught her gengetsu yumenokei Lunara a spell, after all! Not to mention the humanish had spent a lot of time with Victor by now, so hopefully they were pretty ‘in tune’ with one another.
Fiera 8 Victor 25.3/27.3 Double Image 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 25, 2020 11:06:50 GMT -6
Still, she’d need as many treats and as many teaching tools as possible to help her rakai sarane figure this out. Lunara was a lot smarter than this pet, after all- getting him to do such strange behavior would need some clever thinking on Fiera’s part. To help with that though, Fiera had brought a tool that would be odd in teaching nearly any other move- a full sized mirror. It was the kind that was wide and tall enough that you’d usually hang it on a wall, but Fiera managed to drag it all the way out here to the public park’s training grounds. Honestly, the fact that she hadn’t managed to break it yet was an accomplishment in and of itself, regardless of how much she had tried to pad the frame. As she let Victor have a small break she got it set up, leaning it against a stand.
Fiera 9 Victor 25.4/27.4 Double Image 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 25, 2020 11:07:12 GMT -6
Once she was sure it was stable, the humanish stepped back to observe her work. Yep, there it was- a perfect (false) copy of herself standing inside the glass. With any luck, Victor would find it convincing as well. She also had a near full cooler of meat chunks by her side as well- a vital resource in training just about any carnivorous pet. They had certainly proved important in training Victor, at any rate. Speaking of, she called him over. “Victor, come here!” She said, waving at the sarane from his resting position in the snow. His ears perked up as he heard her before he slowly got up, stretching and taking his sweet time to obey the order. Fiera tried to not get impatient as he walked over- she wanted him as unstressed as possible to learn this. Frustration would only make things harder for both of them.
Fiera 10 Victor 26.0/28.0 Double Image 5
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