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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:11:44 GMT -6
To the humanish’s delight however, the amphadron held her ground as Algol approached. Even as he loomed over her, his massive rack of horns silhouetted against the sky, she continued to hold a defensive stance and even hissed at him slightly. The sarane seemed more amused by that than offended, and leaned down to sniff at Ophelia. To the amphadron’s credit, she didn’t budge an inch, even as he came within inches of her. Eventually he seemed satisfied and laid down again, putting his head on the ground and closing his eyes. Ophelia seemed proud of that and stood up straighter, as if she had managed to “defeat” him. She even gave a few victorious struts around his head. Fiera couldn’t help but chuckle and hand her a few cherries as a “victory trophy” and gave her some encouraging praise. If Algol didn’t scare her, she doubted anything in the tournament would.
Fiera 5
Ophelia 24.0/24.0
Hardy 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:12:02 GMT -6
With hardy out of the way, the next move on her list was… screech! A useful move, to be sure. In fights, any time that could be prised from the jaws of the enemy, to put off that next attack, was time well earned. Certain sound moves like screech and roar were well known for their abilities to make opponents pause due to their ears ringing and the world spinning around them. Fiera herself had used it to great effect in the past, and knew that it was a vital move for Ophelia to learn if they were going to have any success in the field of battle. The issue however, was that Ophelia wasn’t normally a particularly loud creature, or at least not when Fiera was around to hear. She knew that amphadron were CAPABLE of making loud noises however- she had done her research on this particular topic.
Fiera 6
Ophelia 24.1/24.1
Screech 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:12:17 GMT -6
Normally the bizarre amphibians made little clicking and chirruping noises, talking amongst themselves in such complicated patterns of noise that most people assumed that they had their own langauge that they just weren’t telling anyone about. They were very private creatures after all, and most of the videos that Fiera had seen were taken in secret, when the amphadrons thought they were alone. Ophelia was no exception to this, and frequently made curious little clicks and clacks around Fiera, though the humanish never really knew how to respond in turn. Under usual circumstances, these noises were quite quiet, though Fiera had found one thing in her studies- when surprised, amphadron could be REALLY loud, leaping out of their skin and making screeching noises that were probably analogous to a human scream, though parsed through a completely foreign throat. Ophelia had even made that noise once or twice while Fiera had been teaching her hardy, though not on purpose.
Fiera 7
Ophelia 24.2/24.2
Screech 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:12:32 GMT -6
Well, “on purpose” was the humanish’s aim for this move today. Fiera still had her WATT and her speakers set up from teaching Ophelia hardy- it wouldn’t be tooo hard to adapt it for this next move. She could try and spook the pet again with the mask and roars like she did last time, but Ophelia was quite used to that by this point and Fiera likely wouldn’t be able to do the same thing twice. Thankfully however, amphadron were very intelligent- sapient, in fact. As a result, they had a tendency to be curious ad perform mimicry like any other sapient species. With any luck, it would hopefully be easy for Fiera to play a recording of a screeching amphadron and induce Ophelia to make the same noise, giving her some cherries for every success. She even had those research videos saved on her WATT still, ready to be used.
Fiera 8
Ophelia 24.3/24.3
Screech 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:12:48 GMT -6
In the meantime, Fiera checked her plastic box of cherries- it was still plenty full, so she would easily have enough left for this trick and beyond. Fiera nodded and put it away, though Ophelia did spot her doing so first. The amphadron wandered closer, clearly notiing that something new was happening now. She figured it was probably better to come over and get it over with rather than wait for Fiera to come and pester her into performing. Fiera smiled and greeted the amphadron politely, but was met with nothing but a flat expression in response. Fiera shrugged and stood up again, holding the speaker out so Ophelia could see it. The amphadron sniffed it slightly before looking at Fiera again, confused. What was she meant to do with this? The moss amphadron was confused for now, but Fiera would clear that up soon enough once she got that video playing.
Fiera 9
Ophelia 24.4/24.4
Screech 4
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:13:06 GMT -6
The humanish hovered a finger over the “play” button. “Okay Ophelia- screech!” She said excitedly, setting the command word for the move. Then she hit play on the WATT, starting up the video. For a moment, there was a more familiar clicking noise as the ampahdron in the video “talked” normally, and Ophelia drew even closer, cocking her head to one side to listen better. Did she understand what was being spoken there? Fiera wondered. It was odd how these creatures had an entire language of their own (supposely) that nobody but them knew. Still, they had reached the part of the video where the amphadron in it had been surprised- this time, by a balloon popping suddenly right next to it. Fiera watched as the balloon blew- and then exploded, making a loud noise. Ophelia didn’t jump as the balloon was a lot quieter coming out of the speakers, but the amphadron in the video sure did.
Fiera 10
Ophelia 25.0/25.0
Screech 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:13:21 GMT -6
It made a loud screeching noise and leapt into the air, and Ophelia couldn’t help but mimic it in sympathy, in the same way that people yawn when they see somenoe else yawn or almost automatically say “bless you” when someone sneezes. It wasn’t a voluntary response so much as a knee-jerk social cue. It was only a tiny leap and an even tinier screech, but it still fit the bill well enough that Fiera felt the urge to praise her for it. “Good job, Ophelia! Good screech!” She said eagerly, and handed her some cherries. The amphadron looked at her oddly, holding a hand over her chest as if to calm down her heartbeat, but eventually sighed and took the cherries from Fiera’s hand, stuffing them in her mouth as she listened to the rest of the video. With one repetition done, Fiera rolled the video back to the beginning.
Fiera 1
Ophelia 25.1/25.1
Screech 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:13:50 GMT -6
Ophelia watched it again even more intently this time, chewing thoughtfully. When it got close to the part with the screech, Fiera quickly gave the command again. “Ophelia, screech!” She said, just as the balloon popped. This time Ophelia was able to match it better, mimicing not only the sound, but the tone and pitch of the noise. Fiera was pretty impressed, to be honest. It wasn’t as loud as it would need ot be to stun an opponent, but it was clear she was learning the idea of what this noise was supposed to sound like and was practicing to get it to where it needed to be. Fiera handed Ophelia the cherries and gave her plenty of praise as well, but the amphadron seemed to be mostly lost in her own thoughts by now- likely coming up with ways to improve her efforts. Fiera was glad she had such an intelligent pet- it made training a lot easier!
Fiera 2
Ophelia 25.2/25.2
Screech 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:14:06 GMT -6
When Ophelia was done eating those cherries, Fiera had already put the WATT away. The humanish figured that they probably didn’t need it anymore considering that Ophelia knew the basic sound by now. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to get it back out again, and Ophelia would be able to do it on command even if she wasn’t doing it very “well” yet. Fiera stood up and straightened herself out, stretching slightly before turning back to Ophelia. “Okay Ophelia. Screech!” She commanded, clapping her hands together once for emphasis. The amphadron looked at her for a moment as if waiting for the WATT to screech as well as a cue, but when it was clear that there was nothing but silence surrounding them, she began making those initial “start up” clicks on her own. They built up, getting louder and louder until finally she let out a loud, insistent screech of her own.
Fiera 3
Ophelia 25.3/25.3
Screech 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:14:39 GMT -6
Fiera chuckled and stepped back a bit- it wasn’t enough to leave her stunned, but it was definitely a lot better than her last attempt. “Good job, Ophelia!” Fiera said, rubbing one of her ears, trying to make it feel better. “Good screech!” She said, and handed the amphadron even more cherries than before. Despite Ophelia’s usually flat personality, even Fiera could see how her eyes lit up at the prospect of getting even more treats than usual. Hopefully that owuld be encouragement to be even louder next time. Ophelia was more than happy to shovel them into her mouth, savoring the sweet flavor of the fruits. Fiera chuckled and waited until she was done before giving the order again- she didn’t want flecks of cherry screeched onto her, after all. After a minute or so, the amphadron finally gulped and swallowed her food and was ready to go once more.
Fiera 4
Ophelia 25.4/25.4
Screech 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:14:54 GMT -6
Fiera was ready too, of course. “Okay Ophelia, good job… now screech!” She said again excitedly, pointing at her pet. Ophelia gave those few warning clicks agian before bursting into noise. It was… definitely a proper screech. Fiera was amazed such a loud noise could come out of a creature that size, and even when she pinned her feline ears against her skull she could still feel them ringing, to the point where it was difficult for her to tell when Ophelia actually stopped. When she managed to shake her head clear, she chuckled uneasily. “Yep! Good job, Ophelia!” She said, and threw her another couple of cherries for her trouble. Well, she definitely knew how to do that. Fiera felt satisfied with her progress and knew that she would be safe with regards to her abilities there… but she would have to wait a few minutes for her sense of hearing to come all the way back.
Fiera 5
Ophelia 26.0/26.0
Screech 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:15:10 GMT -6
The next ability on her list was “stone skin”. That was… admittedly a little harder for her to teach. It involved toughening up your pets skin to the point where it was harder to pierce through and deal damage to, making it so they wouldn’t get hurt as easily in a fight. Unfortunately, that was a difficult thing to teach and couldn’t really be given as a command- Fiera just had to find something that would toughen her pet up some. She looked around- this rocky shore wasn’t exactly well suited for it. It could toughen up their feet, sure, but it wouldn’t do Ophelia much good for the rest of her body. Fiera hummed thoughtfully before picking up her bag, with Ophelia trailing along after her. “Come on Ophelia. Let’s find a place a little more suiting, eh?” She said cheerfully before beginning to walk down the shoreline.
Fiera 6
Ophelia 26.1/26.1
Stone Skin 1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:15:28 GMT -6
It had been raining a lot recently, and Fiera was grateful for that for a variety of reasons. The first and foremost was that it was the dog days of summer and it had been blazing hot for the past couple weeks. The water that came down was much needed this time of year. The other reason however meant that the various tributaries and flood plains around the lake that people trained their pets and docked their boats in were now gushing with water, forming flash flood streams that normally didn’t exist at other times of year. It was one of those that Fiera was looking for now. After all, throughout the year those streams would fill with dirt, silt, and otherr debris without the water normally cleaning it out, so when you got a lot of rain? You also got fast, harsh, gushing streams filled with rough materials.
Fiera 7
Ophelia 26.2/26.2
Stone Skin 2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:15:45 GMT -6
Needless to say, getting Ophelia to swim in one of those would help increase her physical endurance in resisting the current, but also her skin’s durability as the sand and small stones scrape against her. Ophelia didn’t seem to understand where Fiera was going as they walked up the shore, but the humanish knew exactly what she was looking for. After all, Ophelia had been washed down enough of these in her youth that Fiera practically had a sixth sense for them by this point. Sure enough, she heard a familiar roar up ahead, just around the side of a large tree that was clinging to the rocky shore of the lake. She hopped up quickly to get a better look and sure enough, the stream behind it was a thick muddy color and Fiera could see little bits of debris floating through it. It was absolutely perfect.
Fiera 8
Ophelia 26.3/26.3
Stone Skin 3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 15, 2020 1:16:08 GMT -6
Fiera backed up a bit, got ready, and ran straight at the stream, managing to jump over it and land on the other side with only a little bit of unsteadiness. A small smile spread across her face- she still had it. She turned around to face Ophelia, who was sniffing irritably at the stream. “Oh come on- you’re a moss amphadron! You love muddy things! I saw what you did with this sort of water earlier!” Fiera said, referring to when she taught her pet how to make a tidal wave out of mud. Ophelia snorted at her derisively- sure she liked swiming in mud, but Fiera didn’t need to just ASSUME that of her. “Ok ok. Whatever.” Fiera said in a conciliatory fashion before reaching into her pocket. In her hand, she held some of the juiciest cherries she could find in the box of fruit she brought with her, and saw her pet’s eyes light up.
Fiera 9
Ophelia 26.4/26.4
Stone Skin 4
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