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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:42:14 GMT -6
Her harachiu seemed to especially appreciate. Fiera technically ‘owned’ them, but she was quite uncomfortable with the term, all things considered. She had spent most of her young life fighting to free people from tyranny, only to come to a place where intelligent creatures, capable of full communication and developing unique opinions were considered pets, little decorations to put around your house or keep on your shoulder. Fiera was… chagrined about it, to say the least. She didn’t have the clout to stop it however, so she dealt with it the best she could. Her harachiu certainly seemed a lot better adjusted now that she had spent some time treating them like actual people. Even Icarus, by far her most unpleasant and unruly harachiu, seemed to have at least SOME begrudging respect for her… even if that consisted of just not running away every time they went somewhere together. None of them had been taught how to speak yet, but they were getting there. Desiree, the pixie harachiu that Fiera had had the longest, had even picked up a couple words and phrases here and there that she knew, though she was far from ‘fluent’ in common to say the least. Fiera glanced back at Ophelia. The amphadron would never be able to learn how to speak, that much she knew already. It was a shame, but their very biology, their vocal chords were against it. Their mouths just couldn’t form the syllables. As Fiera had seen already however, their hands were quite dextrous and nimble. Perhaps once the tournament was over, Fiera could teach Ophelia how to use Labs Sign Language instead of verbal speech, giving her a way to interact with the world beyond just staring at it and being mildly upset about it all. Fiera wondered what she would say if given that chance. Still, it would have to wait. The humanish had a lot of irons in the fire, and teaching her sapient pets how to speak was part of that. Today her goal was one thing only- to teach Ophelia to move faster. Speech would come later- after all, it wasn’t exactly a vital thing to know in a fighting tournament, now was it? The gym was drawing ever closer, and Fiera could see that even Ophelia was looking up at it now. It was a gigantic building, clearly a repurposed warehouse, but Fiera knew that was sort of the point. You could train any creature in here, from the tiniest jibiji to the most monstrous of pliathor. And in order to do that, you had to have a building that was capable of actually housing those creatures, at least temporarily. Lincoln hadn’t been too much of a problem to fit in the door, but Fiera had no doubt that the owners of lasobiel or thundergug had much bigger problems in bringing their pets to the gym. She glanced around and saw that a few people had the same idea as her, however.
Fiera 15 Ophelia 22.0/22.0 5
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:44:06 GMT -6
Most of the creatures here were relatively plain looking in comparison to some of the beings that Fiera had seen in the labs city during her stay there. This was a major flag to Fiera. The current tournament was very specific about what pets could enter. Only ones of a certain level of strength were allowed to enter, and of those only the ones that were currently available and common to the public could be entered, trained from scratch. Fiera didn’t feel like training a mosca or a baakir, so instead she selected a bizarre little green and brown tadpole that gave her some evil looking glares right from the start. She figured things had gone alright with Ophelia since then, though she knew that the amphadron would be at a disadvantage from the get go due to her slow speed. With any luck, this training session would rectify that, though Fiera now knew that they’d be working out with their competition. Still, that was fine by her- it gave her the opportunity to scope out her upcoming opponents and get an idea of who they would be fighting against. “Keep your eyes peeled, Ophelia.” FIera said as a baakir walked by them. Hm. A baakir. Noted. She saw a couple of other pets- mosca, equillion. All ones from the list. In fact, Fiera was the only one who seemed to have brought an amphadron. Well, good. With any luck they would be able to bring some real flair to the competition, and maybe pull out a surprise win or two. For now though, it might be worth their while to lay low and avoid tipping their opponents off to their presence. As a result, Fiera kept a surprisingly subdued profile as she entered the gym instead of kicking open the door or announcing her presence as she usually would. (Ophelia was no doubt grateful for this, not sharing Fiera’s flair for the dramatic.) The humanish patted herself on the back mentally for her subtlety- no doubt it would pay dividends. The entrance hall of the gym had the same base feeling as the exterior of the gym. The floors were made of concrete and metal pylons supported the ribbed ceilings above them, giving the place an industrial, sterile feel. Even Ophelia seemed a tad put off by it, quickly looking around to establish her surroundings. Despite that though, the owners of the gym had clearly gone through a lot of effort to at least try and make it look more “homely”. The floor was decked out in padded mats and the front desk looked modern and clean. The whole gym looked very clean in fact, despite the massive amount of surface area that they had to scrub down every couple of hours. Off to either side were cases of training supplies and bottles of additives that one could give to their pets to make their training a little easier. Fiera glanced over at them curiously, raising an eyebrow as she did.
Fiera 16 Ophelia 22.1/22.1 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:44:32 GMT -6
There were all sorts of equipment here for training, for purchase instead of the usual rentable or borrowable items that the gym had. Leg wraps for weight training (she recalled using these with Lincoln- he had absolutely loathed using them,but they certainly did increase his strength in the end.), energy drinks for pets and people to help refresh them (oh, how Fiera wished she had had some of that on the way here! Ophelia probably would have liked it a lot more than plain water.) poles to weave around (possible useful for Ophelia’s training, but she couldn’t imagine how she would convince the amphadron to actually use them.), and a stopwatch to check the pet’s time (Fiera could see this coming in handy, but she wasn’t sure if she had the points to buy it. She was a stingier person than you’d think when it came to that sort of thing). Finally she heard a polite cough from the front desk and glanced up. How long had she been looking at those items for? Judging from the fact that Ophelia was now lying on the floor and giving her a withering glare, it had been quite a while. Well, it wasn’t her fault that this place had such an impressive collection of things to buy! Really, if they wanted people to get started right away, they shouldn’t distract their customers with a shopping experience! Fiera strutted up to the front desk, getting out her wallet and ID. “Yes, yes, hello. I’m Fiera Ferella, this is Ophelia. We’re here to do dexterity training today.” She said matter of factly before leaning in, a conspiratorial look in her eye. “Between you and me, she could afford to lose a few pounds.” She said with a wink, but the woman at the front desk didn’t seem convinced. Fiera resisted the urge to sigh- there was just no pleasing these people. “I believe I had an appointment already?” Fiera said, trying to hurry this conversation along now that it was clear that this person had no interest in playing along with her. “For 2 o clock, I think.” She clarified as the woman at the front desk tapped around on a computer for a moment. After an incredibly boring ten seconds, the receptionist was able to assure her she had arrived on time and took her ID, clearing Fiera in the system so she and Ophelia could move on. Fiera tapped her long nails on the desk expectantly as the receptionist went through the paperwork. All of this took so long! Fiera felt that she had spent enough time just sitting around by this point- she was ready to get to training already, even if Ophelia wasn’t ready yet. Of course, there was no way for her to know what was coming- she just had to put her faith in Fiera which was, of course, a terrifying notion for many people. Fiera offered her pet a sharp toothed smile.
Fiera 17 Ophelia 22.2/22.2 7
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:45:06 GMT -6
It wasn’t especially comforting, especially to a creature that didn’t have facial anatomy adapted to make that sort of emotional expression and so generally regarded that sort of thing as a threat. Not that Ophelia was wrong about having that opinion of her owner, of course. Fiera was a rather threatening person, and while not overtly dangerous (for the time being at least), there had certainly been a number of shopkeepers over the months that she had scared the living daylights out of by way of her prodigiously loud voice. Of course, there was also the fact that she was a former second in command of a underhanded and devious violent revolution in another city, but that was a part of Fiera’s past that she had been obligated to leave behind. For now. Those violent thoughts tended to pop up from time to time in the humanish, but for the time being she didn’t really have any way to act on them. Yet. It was, perhaps, a bad idea to give such dangerous animals out to the public, but Fiera hadn’t quite managed to tame enough of them to be a threat for the time being. But still, time had its own way of marching forward and even Fiera’s political career was taking off by now. Who knew, maybe someday she would have enough followers that she could make real change in the labs- one way or another. For now though, she would have to settle for making random animals perform tricks and run around for her own amusement. After she and Ophelia were all checked in, Fiera led the amphadron around the side of the desk. Now that they were in an enclosed space, Ophelia seemed to be paying more attention to her surroundings. After all, this didn’t seem to be a normal walk anymore- they had definitely GONE somewhere, and that meant that Fiera intended for Ophelia to do something with her while they were here. This place reeked of other pets, and Ophelia quietly hoped that she wouldn’t have to interact with any of them. She greatly appreciated her privacy, what little of it she was able to get. Thankfully though, Fiera didn’t lead her toward any of the occupied training areas, even though she knew it could be helpful to train with a partner. Still, Fiera didn’t know many people in the city that well, and didn’t want to rely on anyone else for her pets’ training anyway. She was a very ‘self sufficient’ person in her own mind- and ‘selfish’ in other peoples’. No, Fiera was looking for a more empty area for her and Ophelia to train in, and only the best would do for her amphadron. As they walked through the gym, they passed by several potential opponents. A baakir strained under the weight of some heavy packs on its back. An equillion kicked out at a target as hard as it could. A chiryma raced back and forth with its owner barking out commands and clicking on a stopwatch furiously.
Fiera 18 Ophelia 22.3/22.3 8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:58:19 GMT -6
These pets, she noted, were all ones that were valid for the current tournament… but she also noticed that she didn’t see any other amphadron. Good. That meant that they were in the clear… for now. With any luck, Ophelia’s unique skills would be enough to carry her through this competition. The gym seemed pretty busy today though, despite the parity of people outside. Perhaps everyone who normally would have been out there were busy traiing in here today. Fiera raised an eyebrow at this, but otherwise didn’t let her surprise show. She was just hoping that she could find a spot for her and Ophelia to train in peace, that was all. The last thing they needed right now was a “training buddy” to try and distract them. Or even worse, pick up on the techniques Fiera was trying to teach her pet for the competition. She didn’t need any rubberneckers trying to get a leg up on them. She walked through the gym with strides that she hoped looked purposeful, even though she didn’t really know where she was going. Ophelia looked around too, but seemed just as confused as Fiera. To her left, Fiera finally saw a set of sliding doors with some wave symbols on them. An area for aquatic pets perhaps? She would bet anything that that area would be more empty, and goodness knew that Ophelia would like it. She was an amphibian after all, and was far more comfortable in the water than she was on land. Not to mention after that long slog through the heat, going for a dip in the pool was just what she needed right now. Furthermore, maybe she could learn to transfer some of that dexterity from the water to fighting on land as well. Was it a pipe dream? Maybe. But Fiera didn’t see the point in not trying. “Come on, Ophelia!” She said, waving her hand over her shoulder to let the amphadron know they were changing directions. Ophelia stalked along after her just as readily as before however- it was all strange to her, so it didn’t really matter where they ended up going. The doors slid open with a well greased ease in front of them, letting them out into the poolside. Fiera breathed in the air, surprised that it didn’t smell like chlorine like most pools. That made sense once she thought about it a little longer though- fish and amphibians couldn’t survive in pools of water treated with heavy chemicals, and Fiera figured that that would be bad for the gym as a result. It wasn’t a great look if your clients all got chlorine poisoning instead of beefier bodies and improved dexterity. Being a creature of fresh water, Ophelia would likely get along here just fine. She glanced over her shoulder at the amphadron and noticed that she seemed a lot perkier already. Amphadron weren’t known for their great senses of smell, but she had the feeling that even she could pick up on how much moister the air was in here and how much this place smelled of water.
Fiera 19 Ophelia 22.4/22.4 9
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:58:44 GMT -6
The sliding doors opened up to a surprisingly large pool right off the bat. Fiera walked toward it, happy to see a place for them to train right off the bat… only for a massive pliathor to breach out of the water, coming back down with a crash and a cheer from its trainer. Fiera immediately turned to the left, now pretending that she had never seen the pool at all. What pool? She knew nothing of it. Ophelia tried not to show it, but she decided to follow Fiera a little closer now as well. Pliathor were… scary. As Fiera kept going however, she realized that she didn’t have to worry about not being able to find a place to train. There were a LOT of pools here. Some of them smelled different and it took Fiera a few minutes to place the scent- brine. Yeah, they probably weren’t going to use those ones- unless she wanted her moss amphadron to shrivel up into an amphibious prune. As they kept going however, they were able to find a few more smaller pools, along with some equipment lined up against the far wall. There were plenty of different types of equipment, some which was pretty straightforward (such as weights) and others that Fiera couldn’t even fathom a use for (sticks tied to tubes, tied to… other tubes? What was that even supposed to be?). As her eyes slid along the racks however, a regimen for Ophelia began to creep into her mind and she nodded her head slightly as a smile spread across her face. She could make this work, for sure. The humanish stopped in front of one of the pools, scanning it carefully. It smelled of fresh water, so there was no problems there. It was perfectly round with a grippy rubber floor around it, so Fiera could easily run around it without worrying about tripping. The floor of it was plain concrete and it was about ten feet across. It wasn’t very deep though- maybe a foot and a half at it’s very deepest. Ophelia could stand in it without even getting her tail wet if she wanted to. That worked fine for Fiera’s purposes- she could get as wet as she wanted. To claim her spot, Fiera let her bag drop with a dull thud against the floor. They had found their spot, it was now time to start training. Ophelia gave the bag a quick sniff and after she realized that Fiera wasn’t going to move on, went ahead and hopped into the poor, putting up a small splash of water. She trudged around happily for a moment before laying down and rolling around in it. It wasn’t deep enough for the amphadron to swim in, but it was enough to get her whole body wet. Fiera couldn’t help but smile at her pet’s uncharacteristic display of emotion- she must have been really thirsty! The amphadron slithered across the bottom of the pool, enjoying herself as her owner looked on.
Fiera 20 Ophelia 23.0/23.0 10
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:59:07 GMT -6
Still, Fiera couldn’t play spectator forever. Now she had the task of actually getting the amphadron’s training materials together. Ophelia seemed perfectly happy to play in the water for now (though she had no doubt that the amphadron would loathe that description of her actions) and refresh her skin, and that gave Fiera plenty of time to go get some supplies for her upcoming dexterity training together. There didn’t seem to be any rules against leaving your pet alone for a while so long as they were well behaved, so Fiera didn’t see any problem in walking over to the wall where the training equipment was kept to collect some supplies. They had a massive plethora of objects there of all shapes and sizes, though there were only a couple things that Fiera was interested in. She didn’t see any reason not to keep it simple after all, especially for their first session in the gym. The humanish took down some basic leg weights first. They might have been training dexterity today, but learning to move nimbly while weighed down was always helpful. Fiera slung one over each shoulder after making sure they would fit the amphadron by testing it on her own arms. They were certainly heavy enough, that was for sure. She thought about grabbing a whistle, but declined- she had one in her bag after all, and even if the whistles were cleaned after each session, there was something… gross… about reusing something that had been in someone else’s mouth. That tool could stay on the rack. From there Fiera turned to a crate full of plastic balls, the type you’d see in a children’s play pit. They were lightweight, hollow, and completely harmless. Fiera would prefer something with more oomph personally- she was nothing if not an overachiever- but considering that she didn’t want to leave Ophelia alone for TOO long, these would do for the time being. So she’d take these for now. Fiera had the feeling you were only supposed to take as many as you could carry, but when had that ever stopped her? With that in mind, she snapped shut the lid of the box over the colorful balls and tugged on the side, discovering (to her delight) that the lightweight balls meant that the chest wasn’t very heavy at all and she could easily drag it over to the pool she had dropped her amphadron off in. The humanish heaved backwards and sure enough if moved easily, if with an annoying grinding noise. There wasn’t even any gym staff around right now to tell her off- how convenient! Within a few seconds Fiera had the chest set up next to Ophelia, who looked at it with only vague interest. They finally had all of the gym supplied tools for her training- now it was time to get out what Fiera had brought with them. Fiera walked over to her backpack and picked it up, her fingers fiddling over the top of it until she found the correct pocket.
Fiera 1 Ophelia 23.1/23.1 11
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:59:30 GMT -6
She unzipped it quickly, with Ophelia looking on with disinterest, though still noting what was happening. She perked up quite a bit once Fiera drew a certain distinctive container out of the bag however. When amphadron were babies, mere tadpoles swimming around in pools, they had a diet rather characteristic of fish. They ate algae off of the rocks, snatched small insect larvae out of the water, so on and so forth. When they grew to juvie, they… well, they didn’t eat much of anything to be honest. At that age, amphadron laid dormant, waiting in a chrysalis like an insect. It was a bizarre life cycle for a vertebrate to have, but Fiera didn’t really question it. When they grew to adulthood however, they changed quite a lot, growing the limbs and mouthparts that one couldn’t even guess at by seeing their earlier stages. Their culinary tastes changed a great deal as well, as once amphadron grew up they went from desiring insects and algae to eating fruit off of trees and bushes, using their deep intelligence and deft hands to act as gatherers of the abundance around them. Needless to say, Ophelia had been enjoying her new tastes to the fullest (as much as a creature with a personality as flat as hers could) and had developed quite the love of cherries, a small fruit that was almost perfectly designed for Fiera to bring to training sessions with her and give the amphadron for performing some trick or another well. So that was exactly what she brought with her today- a box of the juiciest, freshest cherries she could find. They glistened in the light, reflecting their bright red color onto the container they were in, and Ophelia’s eyes just about bugged out of her head at the sight of them, her hands raising up involuntarily. “Oh, you want these?” Fiera said teasingly, wiggling the box at Ophelia. The amphadron seemed to realize her foolishness and shoook her head to clear it before acting like she had no interest in them at all... But Fiera could still see how her eyes drifted across the pool to look at them again. She chuckled, charmed but not about to give up the treats that easily. “Well, you can have some… but you’ll have to work at it!” Fiera said chirpily before putting the box behind the chest of balls, where Ophelia couldn’t hope to get at it without Fiera noticing and stopping her first. If she wanted treats, there would have to be a tradeoff- good performance for food, just like any training session. This time though, Fiera wasn’t teaching her any specific trick, ability, or move- she was teaching the amphadron how to improve her body itself. Now that she had gotten out the treats for this session, Ophelia seemed to now recognize that there was something at stake and some sort of task to complete, though she couldn’t say what as of right now. Well. Fiera would get to that soon enough.
Fiera 2 Ophelia 23.2/23.2 12
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 9:59:54 GMT -6
Without further ado, Fiera cracked open the top of the chest full of plastic balls, glancing at the contents within. Yep, it looked like none had managed to escape. She closed it again and walked over to Ophelia, takinng a few hesitant splashes into the water. The amphadron seemed slightly amused by Fiera’s ungainly movements in water, but the humanish did her best to ignore her pet’s derision. Ophelia held still as she approached, but she quickly regretted it as the humanish took the leg weights she had grabbed down and off her shoulder. She crouched down in the water and gently wrapped them around Ophelia’s legs, as quickly as possible before the moss amphadron realized that something was off here and tried to kick her off. Thankfully she only had two legs to get around to (unlike Lincoln’s four, the last pet she trained here at the gym.). By the time Ophelia leapt away Fiera was already done, and she stood up to observe her work. Ophelia was slightly more graceful and comfortable inn water than she was on land, but this addition definitely evened that out, weighing the amphadron down in addition to the natural drag the water created as she tried to move. Amphadron weren’t quick to start with but she was even less nimble now- perfect for Fiera to teach her how to work around it. The amphadron lashed her tail angrily and reached down to take the weights off herself. Ah, right. Ophelia now had more FINGERS than the last time Ophelia had really trained her. Still, at least “no” had been one of the tricks that she had been taught. “Ophelia, no. Leave those on.” Fiera said gently, not needing to properly scold her pet quite yet. Ophelia stopped halfway down to her leg, straightened back up, and made a loud clicking noise that Fiera knew meant “irritation” by this point. “Yes well, you’re just going to have to deal with it.” Fiera said matterly of factly as she turned back to the chest. Ophelia was all set up for learning now- they’d just have to wait and see how much she would actually try to learn as opposed to just getting mad at the weights. Still, the water would make a fantastic restriction for her, obligating her to move as fast as possible just to catch up to her normal reaction time. When Fiera took her out of the water, she would zip along like there was nothing there at all, not even air! Fiera grinned at the thought as she picked up the first ball, tossing it up in the air a couple times to test it out and learn its weight. It was a bright yellow, nearly neon in its shade, and brand new. Fiera knew it would fly true, but Ophelia would have to think fast in order to avoid it. “Okay Ophelia…” Fiera said, a wicked flash appearing in her eyes as she whipped around, holding up her arm to fastball the plastic orb at her pet.
Fiera 3 Ophelia 23.3/23.3 13
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 10:00:19 GMT -6
“Think fast!” She said joyfully, snapping her arm forward. The ball whizzed toward Ophelia… and bounced off of her face. Fiera immediately cringed, as she wasn’t intending to make THAT direct a hit against her. As the ball rolled off of her face and plopped into the pool, Ophelia gave Fiera a withering glare. “...You know what?” Fiera said awkwardly, feeling a bead of sweat drip down the back of her neck. “That’s completely fair.” She said with a slight laugh as she reached forward to grab the ball now that it had floated to the edge of the pool. “Maybe, and this- this is just a theory- I should start you out at zero instead of sixty.” She said, throwing the ball back into the pile. Ophelia gave her another look as if to say “No, really?” Fiera picked up another ball this time, a bright red one. She let Ophelia see it in her hand this time before raising it up. “Okay Ophelia, dodge this one!” She said, and threw it with less effort than before. Ophelia attempted to side step it, but the combination of the drag of the water and the weights around her leg slowed down her movements a lot, causing her to just sort of vaguely move to the side but not exactly “dodge” it. Instead it glanced off of her shoulder and rolled down her back into the pool. It wasn’t quite what Fiera was looking for, but at least it was progress in comparison to the last one. “Good job, Ophelia!” Fiera said, and leaned over the chest. She unclasped the top of the box of cherries with the sound of rattling plastic and it popped open on its own, revealing the juicy fruits within. She rolled one into her hand and stood back up again before turning around to find Ophelia staring at her intently. “This is what you were waiting for, eh?” Fiera said, holding up the cherry before tossing it to her. “Here, good job.” She said again, and the amphadron just barely managed to lean over fast enough to catch it. Fiera chuckled- even giving her treats was a bit of practice for her to increase her dexterity. Ophelia ate it quickly, not even stopping to savor the flavor of the fruit. Fiera didn’t mind- if she did her job well after all, she would be getting a lot more of these before they were done. Hopefully their next try would be a little better however. Once Ophelia was done licking the juices from her saurian hands, Fiera picked up another ball, a pale blue one. “Ready to try again?” She asked calmly, and the amphadron lowered herself into a more prepared stance. Fiera smiled. “Sounds good to me, then!” She said, and gave the ball a quick test toss before throwing it underhanded at Ophelia again, maintaing the gentle speed she threw it at last time, letting it float through the air more than zipping.
Fiera 4 Ophelia 23.4/23.4 14
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 10:00:43 GMT -6
Ophelia knew the drill by this point. Fiera would throw a ball, she would have to try and dodge it. As a result, her reflexes were a little faster this time and even though the weights wrapped around her legs were just as heavy, she was able to get herself to move just a tad faster than before, if just because she could respond to the “threat” sooner. She dragged one leg through the water to set it down a foot to the side of her, and that was enough to make her shoulders dip down far enough that the ball flew over them, splashing down in the pool beyond. It was a slow, sloppy attempt and the amphadron didn’t actually go anywhere, she just ducked down a bit. Still, it was a huge success as far as Fiera was concerned, as she didn’t actually get hit by it. Ophelia seemed pleased as well, trudging over to the ball herself so she could kick it out of the water spitefully. Fiera chuckled, watching as the blue ball rolled away toward a water drain. She could fetch it later but for the time being Fiera figured that letting Ophelia have her sense of catharsis and revenge against these balls that kept hitting her was for the best. The humanish leaned back behind the chest again, grabbing another large, juicy cherry from the box for her pet. “Great job, Ophelia! Here, have another one.” She said, pleased, and threw it to her. Ophelia reached out like before, but her fingers just barely brushed against the cherry this time, sending it splashing into the water. Fiera’s smile fell, but only a little bit- she couldn’t expect a success from her pet EVERY time. Before she could say anything about it however, Ophelia had leaned down and snatched the cherry out of the pool and shoved it into her mouth, crunching loudly. Fiera cringed a bit, not knowing how often these pools were cleaned. Was that even sanitary…? She decided to not think about it too hard and assumed that it was fine. After all, if pets were allowed to swim in these and breathe them in, they could probably eat out of them too. Not to mention the various poisonous pets that were brought in here sometimes that expelled their toxins through their skin. They’d HAVE to change the water frequently if those kinds of pets were allowed in, right? Regardless, Ophelia was done with the cherry now, the ball had rolled to a stop against the drain, and it was time for them to move on. Fiera took a deep breath and selected another ball from the pile, a forest green one with a small dent in it. She hefted it up and down a couple times to judge the weight, but it was no different than the other ones. Ophelia seemed just as ready, so there was no reason not to move on by this point.
Fiera 5 Ophelia 24.0/24.0 15
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 10:01:52 GMT -6
Fiera raised up the ball over her head this time and threw it at Ophelia a bit faster than before. This amphadron did her best to doge it, leaning to one side and quickly hopping out of the way, dragging her legs out of the water to move through the air more quickly. Her gambit worked however, and the ball whizzed right by her tail. She glanced after it and turned back to Fiera approvingly. “Great job, Ophelia!” Fiera said, walking around to grab the ball. The amphadron got there first to her surprise though, splashing through the water and picking it up herself before Fiera could grab it. Then she threw it at the bin, perfectly landing it among its fellows… before pointing at the chest again, demanding Fiera to get her a cherry. Fiera couldn’t help but laugh and held up her hands before walking over to the box of cherries to grab Ophelia her earned treat. “Okay, you’re the boss.” She said as she grabbed one from the box, gently tossing it to Ophelia. She did a much better job at catching it this time, grabbing it out of the air before shoving it in her mouth. She was making good progress so far, Fiera thought. All of her misses were still close calls, but she was still doing a great amount better than her first feeble efforts. With any luck, she would be able to keep improving- especially considering that this was how she was performing while wearing the ankle bracletes and being dragged down by the water! With that in mind, Fiera picked up another ball now that Ophelia was done eating, another red one. She hesitated a lot less this time, but to her delight Ophelia seemed ready for it, and even as Fiera tossed it at her the moss amphadron was already on the move, diving to one side and splashing into the water as the ball flew far over her shoulder. Fiera nodded with approval and walked around the side of the pool to retrieve the ball as Ophelia stood up again from the water. It wasn’t the smoothest dodge, Fiera had to admit. In a battle, that wouldn’t do Ophelia much good, considering that she had pretty much knocked herself prone and given her “opponent” and opportunity for a coup de grace. She had managed to put a lot of distance between herself and the ball, but it opened up far more vulnerabilities for her. To drive this point home in an eloquent and precise fashion, Fiera took the opportunity to throw the ball right at her head as she stood up again. Ophelia glared at her again, rubbing the spot where it hit, but didn’t do her characteristic irritated clicks. On some level, she must have known that she messed something up there, and Fiera was just making a note that she had seen it too. The amphadron picked up the ball after that and rolled it back toward the chest as Fiera returned to her pile of ammo.
Fiera 6 Ophelia 24.1/2.1 16
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2020 10:02:22 GMT -6
There were still plenty of balls left to practice with, thankfully. Fiera didn’t hhve to worry about running out of them any time soon- she could probably keep tossing balls at Ophelia for over an hour like this, even if they sped up their current pace and especially if Ophelia kept tossing the balls back in like this. Ophelia didn’t seem tired yet either, to Fiera’s approval. Though the humanish did remember that they were learning dexterity today, not endurance, so that part didn’t matter quite so much. They could afford to take breaks in between throws, though Ophelia didn’t really seem to need that. Fiera picked up another ball, this time a purple one. There didn’t seem to be as many purple ones in the bin, but thankfully they all weighed the same and the humanish had a feeling that Ophelia didn’t really care. Instead, she was laser focused on the ball and on Fiera movements with it- this next throw definitely wasn’t going to come as a surprise to her. Still, Fiera couldn’t help but hype her up. “Ready?” She asked, and lobbed it before the amphadron could muster any sort of response. The amphibian immediately leapt out of the way, skidding to a stop on the far side of the pool. The ball breezed right by her to Fiera’s delight, but she couldn’t help but notice that it was still a little bit sloppy. Ophelia was dodging based on where she though the ball was going to go and wasn’t watching it as she dodged, resulting in her overshooting her dodging attempt far more than she needed to. She could dodge easily enough now, but her efforts really needed to be tightened up. After all, in a real fight Ophelia’s opponents wouldn’t sit there and wait until she was ready- they would hammer on her until she was down and out and the fight was called. Maybe Fiera needed to be a bit harsher with her. She shrugged for now though and leaned behind the chest to pull out a couple more cherries. She tossed her more than one, letting the amphadron gobble them up. “Better enjoy those now Ophelia- I’m gonna kick it up a notch.” She said matter of factly, and picked up two balls from the pile this time, before Ophelia had even finished eating. The amphadron definitely noticed this, looking up at Fiera mid-chew before shuffling backwards as if trying to give herself a bit more time before the balls made contact. Fiera glanced over her shoulder, not wanting to give Ophelia any indicator of when she was going to “attack”. Now that Ophelia knew the basics of dodging in water and with her ankle braces on, it was time to imitate a real fight- and that meant not giving her pet any hints, as much as she wanted to. There was a long, yawning moment of tension between the two of them before Fiera burst into a flurry of action.
Fiera 7 Ophelia 24.2/24.2 17
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 14, 2020 9:53:48 GMT -6
The balls flew from her hand in quick succession, brief flashes of red and blue vanishing from her vicinity and zipping toward Ophelia faster than the humanish could blink. Fiera had to kiee a close eye on them to make sure that they were hitting (or not hitting) Ophelia at all, so distracted by their speed. Sure enough though, they didn’t make contact- Ophelia was successful. It wasn’t the cleanest success though. Instead of jumping out of the way, Ophelia had just ducked down before Fiera had managed to hit her and was currently practically underwater, with only the top of her head, her tail, and the crests along her shoulders poking out. On some level it was technically cheating… but all the best fighters usually were. Fiera approved! That was an attack like a real fight would have, and while it wasn’t the prettiest, Fiera couldn’t fault her pet for her resourcefulness. She’d need it in the future after all. Fiera decided to surprise her a bit more however, and tossed in some cherries before Ophelia could even come back up to the surface. She saw a few surprised bubbles come from the amphadron’s nose as she tried to sniff at them, and couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched them disappear beneath the water one after the other. While Ophelia ate, Fiera went around and collected some of the balls that had managed to escape, grabbing them out from drains and plucking them from the pool like a less tasty version of bobbing for apples. Then she tossed them back into the chest of balls, a bit wetter than usual but no worse for wear. By that point Ophelia had “reset”, standing back up out of the water again and eyeing Fiera suspiciously, not knowing when the next attack would come. That was good- she needed to stay on her toes if this was going to work. Sure enough, Fiera’s next attack came with no warning at all. In one swift movement, Fiera leaned down and snatched three balls out of the crate. She didn’t even stop to see what colors they were, as spending that amount of time identifying them would surely slow down her “attack”. Instead she whipped around and threw them as quickly and accurately as possible, one after the other. They whizzed quickly and accurately through the air despite their light weight and awkward size. Fiera was surprised at how quickly they moved actually, but she wasn’t about to question it. Ophelia leapt into action the second she saw Fiera start moving, and managed to dip and dive out of the way of each one, letting them splash harmlessly into the water behind her or bounce off the concrete on the other side of the pool and roll off to goodness knew where. The whole process took less than five seconds, a frantic flurry of action to any onlookers (of which there was none- the person with the pliathor seemed to have wandered off, and they were quite alone in this part of the gym anyway, as aquatic pets weren’t generally a major part of tournaments due to… well, the lack of legs issue.).
Fiera 8 Ophelia 24.3/24.3 18
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 14, 2020 9:54:09 GMT -6
Just as quickly as the barrage started, it was over and Fiera and Ophelia were left panting and staring at each other. Fiera couldn’t help but start giggling in delight however- they had done it! That was amazing! Fiera made sure to tell Ophelia as much between excited gasps of air, and the amphadron seemed as flat as usual… though her demeanor was almost fake this time, as if she was hiding a secret bashfulness behind her dour exterior. Fiera tossed her several more cherries, which the amphadron managed to snatch out of the air one after the other. Thye didn’t even touch the pool, and disappeared into Ophelia’s mouth as fast as she could catch them. “Oh, now you’re just showing off.” Fiera laughed breezily, wiping her hair back… and then throwing three more balls at Ophelia in quick succession. The amphadron quickly jumped out of the way even though she had food in her mouth- she had managed to trick her! Fiera thought that Ophelia would be way too focused on her treats to even consider an attack, but it looked like she hadn’t let her guard down for even a second, just as Fiera had been keeping a close eye on her to look for any possible opening. Even when things seemed calm, Ophelia now knew to be ready for a strike. Fiera laughed even harder than that, but in a way she hoped was encouraging instead of mocking- her progres today was amazing! Fiera threw her a few more cherries and waited for her to finish them this time. She even closed the chest and sat on it as if to indicate “See? No more balls for now, you can finish eating.” to her pet. Ophelia calmly ate the rest of her fruit after that, seemingly knowing that Fiera wasn’t going to attack her this time. When she finished however, Fiera hopped up and jumped into the water with her again. Ophelia took a hesitant step back- what was this? Was she going to go hand to hand with Ophelia now, the balls forgotten in favor of more direct combat? She held up her hands hesitantly as if ready to punch back… sort of. In reality, Fiera wasn’t interested in that- even back in her days as a soldier, she was never interested in that sort of direct, hand to hand combat. She was much more of a sniper rifle sort of lady. And even those days were long over- nowadays she much preferred to throw plastic balls at angry amphibians. No, she was focusing more on the weights wrapped around Ophelia’s legs. She crouched down to get at them and the amphadron seemed to calm down a bit more, as if she had figured out that whatever Fiera was doing, it probably wasn’t an attack. Or if it was, it was a weird one, lazily going for the legs instead of trying to tackle the torso or claw at the face. If Fiera did try to attack her like this…
Fiera 9 Ophelia 24.4/24.4 19
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