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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:44:16 GMT -6
Now that Serkan had his basics out of the way, Fiera could move on to the really INTERESTING training. Her goal for Serkan was to enter him in an upcoming fighting tournament, and he was definitely growing fast for it. She had no doubt that soon she’d be able to teach him how to claw and bite with the best of them, even if he wasn’t too strong right now. It would be nice to have someone or something to protect her, she realized. However, he wasn’t anywhere near that goal yet- they still had a lot of training to do. Not to mention the nyssa was still just a baby- a little scrap of leaves with arms and legs. There was a few things that she could teach him like this though, she realized as she looked at her training list again. Complicated things no doubt, but doable.
Fiera 6 Serkan 50.1/10.1 Danger Sense 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:44:54 GMT -6
One of those was ‘danger sense’. It was a trick that all pets could learn, but not all owners were willing or able to teach. Fiera had done it once before for the last tournament and taught it to her candy corn bat Madison, and it had been one doozy of an ability to convey. She had no doubt it would be just as difficult with Serkan, if not harder. His youth wasn’t the issue- Madison had been quite young as well. No, instead the issue was that Serkan wasn’t exactly a… nimble beast. Nyssa weren’t exactly known for their dodging abilities- they were very much a ‘sit there and take it’ sort of species. She was pretty sure that the only time Serkan reacted to anything was when Fiera was holding up some food for him, and even then getting him to do it at any rate faster than a glacial pace was a miracle.
Fiera 7 Serkan 50.2/10.2 Danger Sense 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:45:29 GMT -6
He’d have to figure it out, though. Danger sense involved being able to sense an opponent’s strike before it hit and to get out of the way before it’s effects could take hold. It could be counteracted by attacks that were impossible to dodge, such as those involving sound or perhaps poisonous clouds, or… something. Fiera had only seen sound based attacks in practice, though. Regardless, it required a pets mind to move quick and their feet to move quicker in order to outpace the foe. And Serkan? Well… neither of those really seemed to describe him. Still, Fiera knew she had to try- it was the only way he’d have an edge over the rest of the competition. Besides, how hard could it be? She had already taught it once before, after all. She’d just have to be patient, compassionate, understand, and several other words that didn’t really describe Fiera Ferella very well.
Fiera 8 Serkan 50.3/10.3 Danger Sense 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:45:50 GMT -6
To start with, Fiera went around the surrounding clearing. There were plenty of little doodads lying around. Rough pebbles, unsprouted acorns from the previous seasons, and bottle caps left behind by litterers. Fiera frowned at that last category, but it didn’t stop her from picking it up. That left her with a pile of ‘ammo’ that she could use to train Serkan with. The idea was that she could throw these things at him. He had thick skin (or, well, bark) so it wouldn’t hurt him at all, but he would definitely find them annoying. Hopefully annoying enough that he would learn to dodge them, and pay attention to where they were coming from. With that, he’d be able to anticipate the projectiles before they arrived and get out of the way in advance, with Fiera rewarding him for particularly good attempts. Enough repetitions of that, and he’d have it down pat.
Fiera 9 Serkan 50.4/10.4 Danger Sense 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:46:12 GMT -6
Without further ado, Fiera decided it was time to get started. First, she retreated to the bushes. It wouldn’t be very surprising if Serkan could see where the attacks were coming from. Then, she picked out a particularly rusty bottle cap from the pile and sharply whipped it through the bushes and across the clearing, landing a direct hit on the side of Serkan’s head. She felt a sense of guilty satisfaction as Serkan reacted, looking around for the source of the impact. On a different body part he might not have noticed, but on his face? She had his attention. Wanting to keep it up, Fiera picked out a hole filled acorn and threw that one as well, hitting him on the shoulder. He turned to look in her direction, and she quietly crept through the bushes to the other side of the clearing. “Come on, dodge them… at least TRY.”
Fiera 10 Serkan 51.0/11.0 Danger Sense 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:47:21 GMT -6
She mouthed to herself, not wanting him to notice her. From her new location, Fiera threw another acorn, getting him in the thigh this time. To Serkan’s credit, he turned around faster than before, holding his leaves high as if trying to check the air currents for the perpetrator. Fiera decided to reward him for his quick reaction time, and rolled a blueberry out from the bushes as a treat. Serkan sniffed it before digging in… only for Fiera to throw another rock at him. “Gotta be ready at all times…” She muttered under her breath before going on the move again. Soon she had moved another third around the clearing to keep her pet on his toes. Serkan rubbed the side of his head where that last rock had hit, distracting him from hearing her movements in the underbrush. She readied another bottle cap and raised her arm again, ready to strike.
Fiera 1 Serkan 51.1/11.1 Danger Sense 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:47:41 GMT -6
The bottle cap flew through the air so fast it almost whistled as it moved, which might have explained what happened next. Fiera noticed that Serkan seemed to react BEFORE it hit him this time, instead of just flailing around after it hit him. He didn’t move in time, but it didn’t hit him where Fiera intended, either. She had been aiming for his belly, and he moved so it hit his leg instead. The nyssa overcorrect and ended up topping over due to throwing himself out of the way, but Fiera knew what he had been trying to do. “Good job, Serkan!” She couldn’t help but call from the bushes, and tossed out another blueberry. Serkan ate it from his position on the forest floor, appreciative. Fiera took that moment of distraction to move again, now that he knew her position. Soon, she was close to but not exactly in her original spot.
Fiera 2 Serkan 51.2/11.2 Danger Sense 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:47:59 GMT -6
Serkan seemed to be paying more attention now, actually turning his head to look at sources of sound instead of standing there placidly like he was before. As far as Fiera was concerned, that was a good sign- it showed that he was learning. Ready to continue their ‘lesson’, Fiera lobbed another pebble at him from the bushes. He seemed to notice it even more quickly this time, though he still wasn’t able to move fast enough. This time though, it only brushed against him, bouncing to a stop a couple feet away. He looked back at the bushes where it came from, and Fiera was quick to shift positions again to avoid being spotted. As she moved, she lobbed another acorn at him, not wanting to give it a rest for even a moment. Serkan ducked again, finally getting the hang of seeing it coming, though it still punched through the leaves on his back.
Fiera 3 Serkan 51.3/11.3 Danger Sense 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:48:25 GMT -6
Serkan seemed to be getting the hang of danger sense, and Fiera was more than happy to happy to see it. Especially considering that she was starting to run out of projectiles. She had been trying to pick up rocks and stones as she went along, but her handful was still running low. Still, she couldn’t afford to stop, not when he was getting so close. As fast as she could, Fiera threw three rocks in close succession. Serkan managed to dodge the first two, but wasn’t able to get out of the way of the third in time. Despite getting hit, that was far better than Fiera ever thought he’d do. It looked like she didn’t have reason to doubt him after all, not when he was doing this well. She moved position again, and readied a few more things to throw. He likely wouldn’t need much more practice with this.
Fiera 4 Serkan 51.4/11.4 Danger Sense 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 23, 2020 20:48:54 GMT -6
With the last of her projectiles, Fiera threw them one after the other, rapid fire. Serkan threw himself in every direction possible, scrambling out of the way of what she was throwing faster than she knew he was capable of. He kicked up all sorts of leaves and debris as he scampered around the clearing, with the objects Fiera was throwing at him just barely avoiding hitting him. She couldn’t get a clean hit no matter what she tried though- he had learned to predict her movements. It wasn’t the smoothest reaction possible, but to be fair nyssa weren’t known for their dexterity. As long as he knew how to anticipate attacks and get out of the way of them, Fiera was satisfied. And he had been doing exactly that. Relieved, Fiera finally stepped out of the bushes. Serkan paused, but Fiera just smiled at him. “Good boy, Serkan. I think we’re done for now.” She said, and they both, finally, relaxed.
Fiera 5 Serkan 52.0/12.0 Danger Sense 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 25, 2020 14:36:25 GMT -6
Fiera wanted to keep striking while the iron was hot, so to speak. The list of things she wanted to teach Serkan was still pretty long, after all. Still, he wasn’t big enough yet to teach most of the fighting moves, so she’d have to stick with teaching him how to be agile and resilient. Speaking of resilient, that meant that she should probably try to teach him the next trick on her list- hardy. Hardy wasn’t exactly a trick, more of an ability. She had taught it before at least once so she was familiar with the basics of it. As far as she was concerned, it involved teaching a pet to be resilient, both in mind and his spirit. Serkan was already pretty resilient in his body, but still pretty slow in the mind, and was still small and delicate enough that he could be hurt easily. She needed to toughen him up.
Fiera 6 Serkan 52.1/12.1 Hardy 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 25, 2020 14:36:43 GMT -6
To do that, she’d need to spook him, and then have him realize over time that even if something LOOKED intimidating and predatory, that didn’t mean that it actually was. For that, she had a little solution. Fiera had owned this mask for a while, and it had come in handy plenty of times before now, in use for different tricks. She personally found it disgusting and hard to look at, and if the reactions of her pets were any indicator, they agreed. As a result, it was the perfect thing to help teach hardy, to increase his resistance to intimidating things over time. She slipped it out of her bag and slipped it underneath it instead, so she could whip it out on a whim. Then she whistled for Serkan, letting him toddle over at his own pace. She wanted him to be comfortable starting out. That way, she could slowly increase the stressors.
Fiera 7 Serkan 52.2/12.2 Hardy 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 25, 2020 14:37:22 GMT -6
She started out easy, letting Serkan give her a good sniff over before she stood up, ready to begin. He looked at her curiously, and Fiera let a growl slowly build up in her throat. Then, she let out her best snarl, growling at Serkan as loudly as she could. Fiera didn’t have a LOT of cat in her though, so it wasn’t the most fearsome sound ever. In fact, it was pretty pathetic. Serkan still seemed surprised though, and stumbled back, making a distressed squeaking noise of some sort. Fiera relented and went to comfort him. “Come on you big baby, I know you can do better than that.” She sighed, and he nuzzled into her stomach. Once he seemed to have calmed down some, she stood up to give it another go. She was the opposite of scary, so hopefully he’d figure this out soon. Another deep breath, and…
Fiera 8 Serkan 52.3/12.3 Hardy 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 25, 2020 14:37:41 GMT -6
Let out another snarl… scream… thing. Fiera wasn’t sure what else to call it, and she certainly hoped that no one could hear her like this. It certainly sounded like SOMETHING was being murdered out here. Serkan jumped again, but not as much as before. He seemed surprised but not threatened by Fiera, considering that he knew already that she wasn’t going to hurt him. Instead of bolting, he just backed up cautiously, keeping his eyes on Fiera instead of flinching. It was as if he was calculating now instead of just being scared. Fiera smiled, and tossed him a strawberry this time for his improvement. “That’s it, Serkan! Stay hardy!” She said eagerly, before winding up for another snarl, taking deep breaths. Serkan ate the berry happily, and didn’t even seem nervous when Fiera puffed herself up again. When she felt ready, she growled at Serkan again, trying to make herself look as big and scary as possible.
Fiera 9 Serkan 52.4/12.4 Hardy 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Apr 25, 2020 14:38:35 GMT -6
This time, the nyssa didn’t even flinch. On some level he knew that Fiera couldn’t- or wouldn’t- hurt him. Fiera tossed him a few more berries- he seemed to be doing good so far! She let the bloodroot nyssa take a little break as she returned to her bag, ready to begin the next phase. She picked up the scary mask and slipped it on, and cringed a bit at how her breath reflected back onto her face. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to wear it for too long- Serkan seemed to be taking to this pretty well. Not wanting to waste time, she whipped around and let out the most horrifying screech she could think of, shoving the mask into Serkan’s face. He scrambled backward- what was this creature? It certainly wasn’t Fiera, or anything else he had ever seen before. Fiera kept up the act, growling and snarling as well as she could. Fiera 10 Serkan 53.0/13.0 Hardy 5
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