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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 13:48:15 GMT -6
When Fiera said "Thanks, Alice." though, a thought hit her. Alice... didn't actually know her own name. Amber and Alice spent all their time together, but had never developed any language skills. That was a depressingly common state for harachiu, as it were. She had only met one or two in her entire time in the Labs City that could speak, and even fewer that could write. Fiera had been steadily working with her harachiu, getting them used to the sound of language and talking, but none of them had picked up the entirety of common quite yet. Still, their name was usually a good starting point, and it would be nice to get each of their harachiu to know that they were individuals at the very least. Alice's name was quite pretty, and went well with her sister's name. Once both of them had learned their names, they would be quite the pretty pair.
Fiera 6 Alice 14.1/1.1 Name 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 15:11:41 GMT -6
"Alice!" Fiera said suddenly and the harachiu turned around, raising her ears up in surprise. "Good job!" Fiera said, and handed her a blueberry. She reached out for it hesitantly, as if she didn't believe that that was all she had to do to earn a reward. Fiera simply nodded and held the berry out more insistently, as if to tell her "Yep! That's all there is!" Alice still side-eyed her but finally accepted the treat, chewing it thoughtfully. Fiera smiled and let Alice enjoy her food, not wanting to disturb her until she was done. Once the last of the berry was gone though, Fiera let her attention drift a bit so she could snap her back to attention with her name. Alice stayed focused on Fiera for about a minute or so, but even she couldn't keep her eyes trained forever when Fiera wasn't even doing anything interesting.
Fiera 7 Alice 14.2/1.2 Name 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 15:17:11 GMT -6
When Alice finally drifted off to think about something else, Fiera got ready to say her name again. "Hey, Alice." She said, more nonchalant this time. The harachiu's ear flicked, and after a moment she finally turned to Fiera. That was good- it meant that Fiera didn't need to sound frantic or insistent to get her 'pet's' attention. She would recognize her name from the syllables alone. "Do you want another berry?" She followed up with, giving Alice a wink while holding out another blueberry. The harachiu rolled her eyes a bit but didn't reject her offer, practically slapping the fruit from Fiera's fingers. The humanish could only chuckle as Alice at her food, waiting until she had stopped paying attention so she could try again. She had the feeling she'd try something different this time though, something a little harder for the harachiu to parse just to up the ante.
Fiera 8 Alice 14.3/1.3 Name 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 15:23:24 GMT -6
After Alice was done with that particular berry, Fiera tried something new. She started talking, but didn't say Alice's name quite yet. Instead, the harachiu would have to pick the word out from Fiera's stream of words. She didn't say anything difficult though, and instead just talked about her day, how well things were going, what she thought of the berries, so on and so forth. Eventually though she came to a spot where it made sense to put Alice's name in. "-and then I told her that your name is Alice-" To see if the harachiu recognized her name well enough to respond... and saw no sign that Alice had been paying attention. She didn't look at Fiera, and her ears lay flat. Fiera sighed internally, but kept going. "And I was like, no! ALICE hates those-" She said, emphasizing the harachiu's name that time. Alice jumped at the sudden change in tone.
Fiera 9 Alice 14.4/1.4 Name 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 15:28:39 GMT -6
At least she had the good sense to look sheepish about it- she probably knew better by this point, after all. Still, now that she had finally tuned in when her name was called, Fiera offered Alice another berry for her troubles. Alice took it graciously and ate in silence. As she did though Fiera started up her rambling again, giving comments on everything from how her other pets were doing to the weather. Now she was keeping an extra close eye on Alice though, to make sure that she was paying attention. The harachiu was still eating though, so she wasn't obviously paying attention to Fiera. Finally, Fiera slipped another instance of her name in. To her delight, Alice's ear twitched at the casual use of her name, and her eyes briefly flicked up to look at Fiera. The humanish simply gave her a big, cheesy grin back. Alice rolled her eyes.
Fiera 10 Alice 15.0/2.0 Name 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 6, 2020 16:19:22 GMT -6
Fiera picked the next trick from the list at random. She closed her eyes, ran her finger up and down the list and landed on... stay. Yeah, why not. Stay was pretty standard. It was nice when Fiera was able to tell her pets to stick around somewhere and then have them still be there when she got back. With harachiu this was especially pertinent, considering that they had a tendency to wander off when she wasn't looking. They had a natural sense of curiosity, and no need to obey human laws. With that in mind, they always disappeared when she stopped keeping a close eye on them. If she could teach Alice that 'stay' meant she couldn't walk off when Fiera left, it would make her life a whole lot easier. Fiera just had to hope that this fairy wasn't as bull-headed as the other ones in her care.
Fiera 1 Alice 15.1/2.1 Stay 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 12:30:11 GMT -6
Fiera checked her stock of berries quickly- it looked like she had enough for the next couple of tricks. She was grateful for how fresh and juicy they were- it made training Alice a lot easier than she was expecting. Then, Fiera got out a tiny spool of string and a short pole which she immediately shoved deep into the soft ground, deep enough that she knew Alice wouldn't be able to wrench it out. Then she cut off a length of thread from the spool and tied one end of it to the top of the pole. The other end she brought over to Alice, and gently tied it to her wrist. It wasn't tight enough to hurt her, but the loop was small enough that she couldn't slip it off either. The harachiu looked at Fiera as confusion spread over her face. What was she going for here?
Fiera 2 Alice 15.2/2.2 Stay 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 12:34:57 GMT -6
The humanish soon played her hand. "Okay Alice- stay!" She said with a wink, and then walked off. She hung out around the next tree for a bit, out of sight and hopefully out of mind. She heard Alice start moving right away, and tiny grunts of effort. Still, she didn't hear Alice manage to leave. After about a minute, Fiera came back around the tree and walked over to where she left Alice. Sure enough, the harachiu was right where she left her. The pole proved too deep to pull out of the ground, the knot tied at the top was too high up for her to jump and pull it off of the pole, and the knot around her wrist was too tight for her (comparatively) weak hands to pull undone. She was obligated to stay, no matter what she actually wanted to do. Still, Fiera was pleased with it.
Fiera 3 Alice 15.3/2.3 Stay 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 12:39:19 GMT -6
"Good job, Alice! Good stay!" She said, and handed Alice a new blueberry. The harachiu practically slapped it out of Fiera's hand, grumpy at being restrained in this way. Fiera continued giving her little bits of praise, but it was clear that Alice was having none of it. Fiera sighed gently. In the end, it didn't matter if Alice LIKED doing the trick- she just needed her to understand what it meant and perform it. Fiera didn't like waiting in line after all, but she still knew how and when to do it. When Alice was done eating, Fiera turned to walk away again. "Okay Alice- stay!" She said again. The harachiu rolled her eyes, but sat down on the ground, waving half-heartedly with her restrained hand. Fiera backed off into the bushes again and waited behind the tree. This time she noted that there weren't any sounds at all coming from the clearing.
Fiera 4 Alice 15.4/2.4 Stay 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 12:45:20 GMT -6
When Fiera came back, she was quite pleased with what she saw. Alice hadn't moved from the clearing at all, and instead was sat down in the same position she had left her in. She smiled and held out another blueberry. "Good stay!" She said, and pressed it into Alice's untied hand. While she worked on eating that however, she eyed Fiera carefully as the humanish pulled up the pole and untied her hand. It was time to try it without the objects forcing her to stay put. As Alice ate the last bites of her treat, Fiera backed away again. "Alice, stay there for a minute!" She said politely, hoping that her harachiu would listen to her. As she ducked behind the tree, she heard footsteps and tried not to be disappointed though. The longer she waited though, the more she realized that the footsteps weren't actually leading away. When she returned to the clearing, she found Alice pacing around in circles, waiting for her to get back. Another trick, down pat.
Fiera 5 Alice 16.0/3.0 Stay 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 13:34:57 GMT -6
With stay out of the way, Fiera figured she might as well work on its opposite, come. Come was a super simple trick, and usually not one that her sapient pets even had trouble with. Besides, she figured that with Alice being cooped up for a bit learning stay, come would be a welcome change of pace for her. She still had plenty of treats left, so it should all go smoothly. It would go especially nicely now that Alice had learned to stay, as it made keeping the critter in one spot while Fiera moved to a place for them to come to a lot easier. To make this work though, Fiera briefly packed up and moved herself and her harachiu to a slightly more open area with less underbrush so the pair of them could see each other a lot easier. It would be hard for Alice to come if she didn't know where Fiera was!
Fiera 6 Alice 16.1/3.1 Come 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 14:35:59 GMT -6
When they arrived Fiera dropped her bag on the forest floor and started getting set up for the trick. With Fiera distracted, Alice took a look around as well. Fiera tried to slip the package of blueberries that she had been using as treats out unnoticed, but Alice's head snapped around the second she heard the distinctive crackled of plastic, a smile creeping across her face. Fiera cringed- she had been caught. Well, there was no pretending that they weren't teaching a trick now that she had gotten the treats out. She might as well get started. Alice bounced on her heels as Fiera stood up again, clearly ready to begin. "Okay Alice, and... stay." Fiera said, using one of the commands that her harachiu already knew. Alice groaned, hating that one, but did as Fiera said as the humanish began walking away from her to go to the place she'd want her to come to.
Fiera 7 Alice 16.2/3.2 Come 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 14:42:26 GMT -6
After about ten feet, Fiera stopped and turned around again. She popped open the container so Alice could see the blueberries. By that point, the harachiu was practically vibrating with desire as Fiera took one out. "Okay Alice... come!" She said. Alice tilted her head, confused by the new command. What did it mean? Fiera squatted down and held the blueberry out to her. "It's okay, you can stop staying there! Come here!" Fiera said, and the fact that she was making a "here, take this gesture" made the command finally click in Alice's head. The harachiu hopped up off of the branch she was sitting on and shuffled through the leaves over to Fiera. The humanish happily deposited the blueberry in the harachiu's hand when she arrived, and she stood up as Alice bit into her latest prize. It looked like Alice had a vague idea of the command now.
Fiera 8 Alice 16.3/3.3 Come 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 14:51:45 GMT -6
Fiera still had to refine it however, and make sure that Alice would do it... well, more quickly than that. While Alice was distracted with her current treat, her owner took the opportunity to retreat again. Fiera shuffled off and toward their original position, walking about five feet past her bag. When Alice finished off the last bite of her blueberry she perked up and looked around, realizing that she had lost track of Fiera again. Fiera gave a quick whistle to get the fairy's attention before holding up another blueberry. "Hi Alice! Come here!" She called, and the harachiu almost immediately began walking over to Fiera. She wasn't particularly fast, though Fiera supposed that that was her own fault for not having taught Alice how to fly yet. Still, after about fifteen seconds Alice had managed to close the distance between them and Fiera dropped the berry down to her.
Fiera 9 Alice 16.4/3.4 Come 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jun 7, 2020 14:56:00 GMT -6
The harachiu jumped up a bit to grab it out of the air and immediately dug in, not seeing any reason to wait. That was just fine by Fiera, who was already relocating to the next spot she wanted to call Alice from. This time she half-jogged to her furthest spot yet, about thirty feet away from her pet. Alice turned to watch her as she slowed to a stop and spun around to call to her pet. "Alice! Come here!" She said, patting her thighs slightly to encourage her. This time, she didn't hold up a berry- Alice would have to follow the command on her own this time. To her relief though, the harachiu started walking over anyway, seeing no reason to disobey this time. Fiera breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried about Alice when they first came here, but it was clear that insubordination wasn't a problem she had to worry about with this pet.
Fiera 10 Alice 17.0/4.0 Come 5
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