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Post by Fanged on Dec 8, 2020 0:28:17 GMT -6
A sudden thought crossed her mind. Perhaps there was more to these books than there appeared to be. Maybe the strange titles that she couldn’t comprehend weren’t a proper language at all. Fanged set off trying to decipher then. If they were some kind of code, she’d at least have a chance at cracking them. She couldn’t hope to learn another language, but she could figure out a cypher. Rusty tried his best to climb up onto a shelf that was filled with books, however, he couldn’t quite get a proper purchase with his paw. Fanged removed a book in order to give him the space he needed to haul himself up onto the shelf above that one. She noticed that it was one of the strangely coded books and decided to start with that one. She watched Rusty fondly for a moment as he settled down on the shelf before turning to the book.
(Rusty 31 4/5, 31 4/5)
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Post by Silver on Dec 8, 2020 1:36:44 GMT -6
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Post by Fanged on Dec 8, 2020 23:30:51 GMT -6
Fanged raised her head, her eye catching something hidden behind one of the books. Before she set about deciphering the book she had grabbed, she switched her attention to investigating the new objects. There was a small bell and a plush toy. Fanged picked up both of them, feeling them to be rather important. She gave the toy to Rusty who accepted it eagerly. He dragged the plush toy closer to him, playfully batting at it with his front paws. With a bit too much enthusiasm, he accidentally hit the plush straight off of the edge of the shelf he was playing on. Not one to be deterred, Rusty was quick to follow it, jumping down to the ground a bit clumsily. Fanged was impressed nonetheless.
“Wow that was a great jump!” she praised him.
Setting the book down for now, Fanged wondered if a little bit of training was in order.
(Rusty 32, 32)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 12, 2020 21:53:45 GMT -6
Fanged leaned down and picked up the plush. Rusty watched her with eager eyes, wondering if the woman was going to play with him. She placed the plush onto the shelf that Rusty had just been on. She had a certain purpose to her actions. She was trying to get Rusty to jump back onto the shelf. Rusty studied the toy warily, knowing that he wanted to reach it, but not quite knowing how to get there. Fanged reached up and moved the toy, tempting him further. Rusty scrunched up his face as he tried to figure out how to get up there. He leaned back and it slowly clicked into his mind to jump up. He didn’t quite know how to accomplish that, but he made an attempt. He leaped with surprising power, but he couldn’t quite reach the shelf he was aiming for. He landed back on the ground with a thud.
(Rusty 32 1/5, 32 1/5)
(Training: Jump Up 1)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 12, 2020 23:34:06 GMT -6
Fanged wiggled the plush back and forth on the shelf, tempting Rusty to try jumping up again. This time his movements were more purposeful. He had a sort of picture of what he wanted to do and instinct began to take over. He leaped up, though this time aiming for a lower shelf than where the plush had been placed. It was much easier for him to reach this shelf and he looked down triumphantly when he landed on it.
“Great job, Rusty!” Fanged praised him. Though it hadn’t been the shelf she had wanted him to aim for, the jump had still been impressive and a good start to the trick.
Rusty was pleased with the praise and he peered down at her with a glittering eyes. Sensing what Fanged was about to do next, he leaned forward and accepted the small fish she offered him. He ate quickly and then jumped back down to pester her for more.
(Rusty 32 2/5, 32 2/5)
(Training: Jump Up 2)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 13, 2020 0:51:51 GMT -6
Fanged didn’t give him extra food, but she did jump back into his training. She drew his attention to the plush once more and Rusty focused in on it. Now that he knew he could jump up onto the lower shelf, suddenly the higher one didn’t seem to mystify him as much. He leaned back onto his hind legs and wiggled his rear back and forth as he prepared to jump. With power that was unexpected in his species, Rusty leaped up and landed on the correct shelf this time. He pounced forward onto the plush and playfully batted at it.
“Excellent work, boy!” she praised him happily. She was quick to follow up the praise with another small fish.
Rusty ate the treat quickly and moved back to play with the plush. He knocked it back to the ground and was quick to leap down after it. When it was on the ground, Fanged picked it up.
(Rusty 32 3/5, 32 3/5)
(Training: Jump Up 3)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 14, 2020 21:21:22 GMT -6
She waved the plush back and forth, using it to capture Rusty’s attention again. When he was focused on it, she placed it up onto a higher shelf this time. In order to properly train Rusty, Fanged decided to introduce a command phrase for him to learn.
“Rusty, jump up!” she told him as she wiggled the plush again.
Rusty was more eager to complete the trick now. He wriggled his rear again as he prepared to jump and took a moment to judge the correct distance. He then leaped up with power rippling through his tiny body and landed a bit heavily on the shelf next to the plush. He looked down at Fanged proudly, having landed a little bit higher than the woman. She grinned back at him and was quick to offer him a reward.
“Good boy!” she praised him as she handed him another small fish.
(Rusty 32 4/5, 32 4/5)
(Training: Jump Up 4)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 14, 2020 22:38:34 GMT -6
She waited for Rusty to jump back down before she continued his training. He shook his fur out as he landed, his gaze focused on the additional fish in Fanged’s hands. He waited for her to command him so that he could earn more food. This time, Fanged wouldn’t use the aid of the plush to help her. Instead, she would use gesture alone.
“Rusty, jump up!” she told him as she patted the shelf that she wanted him to jump to.
Rusty had mostly learned the trick by now, so he understood what he wanted her to do. With the promise of fish in mind, he bunched up his hind legs and leaped up with all his might. He was getting better at jumping up onto the shelves and he landed with more grace this time. She gave him another small fish and he tore into it with his teeth.
(Rusty 33, 33)
(Training: Jump Up 5)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 15, 2020 0:07:36 GMT -6
She felt quite satisfied with Rusty’s training. She thought that he had learned the trick properly and he could be rewarded with a break. With that break it also meant that she could get back to trying to crack the mysterious code of this room. She eyed the books warily before moving back to the one that she had discarded. It took her a while to make progress with the strange code in the book and even then, she couldn’t be certain that she had gotten any of it right. But through the clues she managed to track down the next book that she was meant to look at.
“I need one with a red cover and blue across the spine,” she told Rusty. Though describing the book was a lot easier than finding it. There were a lot of books that had blue spines but no red covers. She would be searching for a while.
(Rusty 33 1/5, 33 1/5)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 15, 2020 20:53:41 GMT -6
Rusty continued to play with the plush that she had given him while she searched. The sight was rather adorable and she could frequently hear the thump of the plush as it skidded across the ground. Rusty was not a fighter, but his clumsy movements did have more grace and power than would be expected of his Orbaru parentage.
“You get ‘em, tiger,” she told him fondly.
She turned back to the books, searching until she finally found the one she was looking for. She pulled it out and skimmed through the pages, surprised when she saw that there were no words in this book, only pictures. The pictures seemed fairly mundane at first. As she flipped through them, she felt a strange tingling down her spine. There was something more here that she wasn’t quite grasping. When she reached the end, she flipped her thumb back to the beginning and went through them again.
(Rusty 33 2/5, 33 2/5)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 15, 2020 21:42:30 GMT -6
It took her a while to properly study the pictures before she started to see a pattern. It was a very subtle pattern, but a pattern nonetheless. In each of the images, there was something that was the focus of the picture. For example, in the first picture, there was a Vulticus playing with a butterfly. In the second, the picture focused on a Felusine as it rolled in the grass. The third had a Pliathor splashing in the water and it was through this picture that the start of the pattern could be seen. The centerpiece image had shifted slightly to the right and this shifting continued for the rest of the book until the center image had crossed the entire page. She turned to Rusty to share her excitement with him.
“Look it must mean something!” she cried out as she bent to show the pictures to him.
(Rusty 33 3/5, 33 3/5)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 15, 2020 22:37:19 GMT -6
Rusty craned his head up to look at the book. He didn’t know what to make of the strange pictures, but it seemed to make Fanged happy. He enjoyed things that she enjoyed as well, even if he couldn’t understand what a book was. When Fanged was finished showing him, she playfully nudged the plush toy and Rusty scurried back over towards it. He batted at it with his paws, sending it skidding further across the room. He flicked his tail back and forth playfully before chasing after it. With Rusty distracted once again, Fanged returned to her book. Now that she had spotted the pattern, she needed to figure out what it meant exactly. She stared at it for what felt like hours before she finally made additional progress. During this time, Rusty had curled up fast asleep on top of his plush. She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes.
(Rusty 33 4/5, 33 4/5)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 15, 2020 23:11:14 GMT -6
She flipped open the book and even though she could understand the words, the meaning behind them was complicated. She glanced down at Rusty. He raised his head briefly before returning back to sleep. She would have some time to study the book without interfering with him too much. Her companion got bored dreadfully easily and if they remained in the same room for too long, she felt that was a rather mean thing to do to him if he did get bored.
“Alright, stars. I don’t know how they work to solve the puzzle, but there must be something here I need to figure out,” she muttered aloud.
She sat there with the book placed on her lap. She worked through the pages scanning each carefully as she tried to spot anything unusual. It was on the fifty-third page that she found what she was looking for, an engraving of a silver bell.
(Rusty 34, 34)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 17, 2020 21:11:33 GMT -6
With this bell she’d be able to find the next book she needed, but first, she wanted to take a break. She decided that she would take this opportunity to train Rusty some more. By now, Rusty was awake and wanted some attention. He nudged at her legs, trying to get her to do something exciting. She picked up the plush and waggled it back and forth, capturing Rusty’s attention. She then tossed the plush across the length of the room. Rusty was quick to chase after it, igniting what little instinct he had to chase after prey. His Mosca parentage was shining through clearly now.
“Fetch!” she told him in a high-pitched, enthusiastic tone.
Rusty pounced on the plush, colliding into it clumsily and sending it skidding across the floor. Rusty followed its momentum, landing just short of the bookshelf. He looked back at Fanged and shook his fur out.
(Rusty 34 1/5, 34 1/5)
(Training: Fetch 1)
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Post by Fanged on Dec 17, 2020 21:53:07 GMT -6
It wasn’t quite fetch, but Rusty chasing after the plush had been a good start. She patted him on the head and went to retrieve the plush herself. She used the plush to grab Rusty’s attention once again before she threw it back across the room.
“Rusty, fetch!” she commanded him.
He chased after it again, this time moving with more coordination than he had before. When he reached the plush, he nudged it playfully before picking it up with his teeth. Once he had the plush, he didn’t quite know what to do with it. Fanged whistled in order to call him over to her. He carried the plush, not wanting to leave it behind. When he reached Fanged, he dropped the plush at her feet and happily exchanged it for the tiny fish that she gave him. The food would help him learn the trick and she was happy to indulge him.
(Rusty 34 2/5, 34 2/5)
(Training: Fetch 2)
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