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Post by Silver on Mar 21, 2023 21:11:20 GMT -6
“Ah, here we go,” they said, finding the pick they wanted to use to break up the icy soil. They pulled their gloves back on and began to stab at the dirt. At first they were making slow progress, each stab taking a significant amount of effort. It felt kind of cathartic, actually, and before they realized the ground was sufficiently broken up. They took a deep breath, suddenly aware of the sharp pain of the cold air flooding into their lungs.
They had worked up a bit of a sweat while they were working and they needed to cool down again before they overheated and subsequently froze. Doing hard work in the cold was only that much harder for that reason. Not to mention their stiff and frozen fingers still wrapped around the tool. They wrenched their hand free and flexed it back and forth to bring it back to normal.
Silver pushed themselves off the ground and stretched out their arms and legs. It was time that they helped Quin to find Zollingeri, they thought. They felt good about the work they had accomplished so far, but they knew better than to push themselves too hard. They were trying to take better care of themselves, and in a way, that also meant taking better care of their creatures.
4 [137.6, 28.5, 0.8]
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Post by Silver on Mar 21, 2023 21:12:02 GMT -6
As if he knew something he couldn’t possibly know, Quin chirped an alarm. Silver had come to know his various odd vocalizations by now, and this sounded important. They headed over to check it out. To their surprise, it looked like Quin had found something interesting - and this time it wasn’t just a particularly interesting bug or flower. He was pressed against the ground like a feline ready to pounce. His tail flicked behind him and his eyes were fixated on a bramble bush. He chirped again, and the bush rustled.
“Oh! Be careful,” Silver said. It was the first words that came to their mind. They crouched down beside him and peeked into the bush as well, but they couldn’t see anything from their angle. “What is it, Quin? Have you found our little friend?”
Zolli did not at all like that he was now being assaulted on all sides by weird creatures. He hissed in protest and lashed his tail, only to get it stuck in one of the bush’s tangling branches. He squeaked angrily, trying desperately to free his tail from his own mistakes.
All of the distressed thrashing got Silver’s attention quickly. They gasped, and reached into the brambles haphazardly to do whatever they could to help. Their gloves caught on a few sharp bits here and there, but they mostly made it through unscathed. They clutched the Mussimander gently yet firmly and then paused to think about what they were going to do next.
5 [137.65, 28.7, 1]
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Post by Ashe on Mar 25, 2023 2:23:23 GMT -6
Oh! A mushroom seems to have come off your little friend. And there's some pretty flowers nearby, too.
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:17:27 GMT -6
As the cool days of spring became increasingly warmer, it was clear that summer had arrived. There was always work to be done in the garden. Each change in the weather came with a list of new tasks to complete. The change of seasons happened whether they were ready or not. Sometimes they wondered how nature managed on its own without their help. Actually, perhaps it would do better without them meddling. Everything could settle back to a more natural state with each organism playing to its strengths. Though they had seen that happen before, and they couldn’t be sure whether it was better or not. Just different. At the very least, their method encouraged more diversity, allowing more fragile and sensitive plants to thrive rather than just those which were the most aggressive and hardy. Silver kept an eye out for Kwist as they passed through the garden gate. It would be just about the time she started budding, and she could often use a little bit of extra support during that time. Each year she hated the process just a little less. 1[150.85, 5.2]
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:18:33 GMT -6
"Quin, do you want to find Kwist for me?" The Paogon tilted his head, knowing that he was being spoken to, but not really understanding the prompt.
"Kwist is a whiptail vine creature," Silver explained as though that made any sense to him. "She is about this big," they demonstrated with their paws, "green, long tail, no eyes, and covered in little buds.. probably."
Quin seemed happy with that explanation and chirped in excitement. He fluttered off to survey the garden from above.
If they were totally honest, they made the request more to give Quin something to do than anything else. They probably didn't need help to find Kwist. In fact, they had a feeling she would make herself known pretty quickly. While she was budding, she didn't take well to intruders in her space. Even ones she knew well like Silver. It was something they had been working on for a while, and even if she did make some progress, she probably wouldn't take well to a Paogon crashing into the bushes.
2 [150.9, 5.4]
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:18:56 GMT -6
Just as they had expected, they soon heard a panicked squeak coming from Quin and Kwist came bursting out of the bramble with her whiptails lashing. She couldn't hurt him of course, but that didn't stop him from being startled by her.
"Good job buddy," Silver said, stifling a laugh. Sometimes Quin probably deserved to be startled especially given how often he did the same thing to others. They would worry about him more if they thought he was in any actual danger, but he wasn’t.
"Good morning my dear," Silver said to Kwist.
She was still baring her teeth and whipping her tails around threateningly. She knew their voice and her eyeless face snapped forward to center on them. She seemed to scan the air around them with her heat sensing pits and slowly closed her mouth. Soon enough her tails stopped flailing about as well, showing that she was taking a moment to calm down now that someone she trusted was there.
3 [150.95, 5.6]
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:19:16 GMT -6
“It’s alright, Kwist, nothing to be worried about,” Silver said calmly. They reached out to touch her to reassure her, only to have her snap back at them. They yanked their hand away with a shout.
“No!” they said sharply. No biting. That was naughty behavior. They felt like Kwist should know better, but had they ever really taught her? They weren’t sure.
They looked at their hand to be sure that Kwist hadn’t managed to catch on to something without them noticing. Then they quickly realized that they were still wearing gloves. She probably had trouble seeing them through the gloves. That made a lot of sense, and they almost felt bad for shouting at her. Well, almost. She would still need to learn not to bite them regardless of the circumstances.
“There, is this better?” they asked, removing their glove and holding out their hand near her head. Kwist’s nose twitched, and ultimately she decided that they were fine. She allowed them to stroke her a couple of times before shrugging them off and walking away. At least she was a little more calm now.
4 [151, 5.8]
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:20:26 GMT -6
Silver started to think about how defensive Kwist always was. She was much better than she used to be after a few budding seasons in their care, but she still reacted to things with her teeth and tail first. That was really a problem for both her and the other creatures she shared the garden with. They decided they would teach her something new, so that she wouldn’t bite first and ask questions later. Hopefully. Silver grabbed a treat out of their bag to get started. Pretty much all training started with a treat, really. “Hey Kwist,” they said sweetly. Her nose turned right to them again, which they expected. Though she couldn’t exactly see what they were holding, she could surely smell the treat. “Good, good,” Silver said with a nod. They looked over her serpentine body and grinned. Those spikes would do nicely, they thought. If only she could use them to her advantage. It wasn’t something she displayed a natural tendency for, so they would have to show her how to do it from scratch. 5[151.05, 6] Thorns - 1
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:20:53 GMT -6
Kwist was getting impatient and started to wave her tails and pace around. She wanted the treat already! She wasn’t one to wait around for what she wanted. Silver decided it was time to hurry up. They used their free hand to encourage her to lay down while using the other one to hold the treat nearby. Each time she tried to snatch it, they pulled it just out of reach while emphasizing her lying down.
“Get down. Down.” They repeated the phrase as they tried to pose her the way they wanted. Whenever she made progress, they gave her a bit of the treat, breaking a piece of meat off and tossing it to her. She eagerly snapped it up and would settle for a moment before begging for more.
It didn’t take them too long to get her used to the process of laying down and being handled. That was just the introduction, though. The tough part was still ahead. They would need to show her how to bare her spikes rather than her teeth when she felt threatened. Now the tricky part was doing it without actually threatening her.
6 [151.1, 6.2] Thorns - 2
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:21:10 GMT -6
Kwist was more used to being handled now, so they were able to pose her the way they wanted. They turned her away from them and hunched her back so that her spines were sticking straight out toward them. “Perfect!” they cheered happily. They gave her another hunk of meat from the treat bag.
As soon as she got the treat, she went back to a different posture, giving Silver the option to set her up again. She clearly found it annoying and wiggled out of their hands. They were persistent, though, and managed to get her to settle with her tail curled around her feet and her spines facing them.
“Show me your thorns,” they said, emphasizing the last word in the sentence. As with any trick, they would need to get her used to the phrasing along with the motion required to perform it. They were pretty used to this by now, so it was second nature.
7 [151.15, 6.4] Thorns - 3
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:22:05 GMT -6
As they went to adjust her posture, they caught their hand on one of the very thorns they were talking about. The sharp spike ripped through their skin quickly, leaving a jagged but shallow wound. “Ow!” they gasped, yanking their hand away. It didn’t hurt as much as it startled them, but it did quickly begin to drip with blood.
Kwist turned to sniff out what was going on. They could smell blood, and not the kind that was in their squishy treats. Silver cried out, it sounded bad to her. She noticed that Silver often tried to comfort her by putting a hand on her, so she clumsily put her head against their leg in the same manner. It just felt like the right thing to do.
“Ah, thank you Kwist,” they said. They stroked her head with their free hand. “I’ll be ok. I was right, though, wouldn’t you know it? Those thorns are sharp, eh?”
8 [151.2, 6.6] Thorns - 4
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:22:22 GMT -6
Silver slowly ran their opposite thumb along the palm of their wounded hand, causing the wound to instantly stitch itself closed. The cut was gone, but the blood remained. They hastily wiped it on their pants and kept going. This was far from registering on the list of training injuries they had sustained.
Once that was dealt with, they went straight back into it. They continued to get Kwist to stand in the right position with her back toward them, hunched over so her spikes stood out and with her tails swept out of the way. Now, if someone tried to grab or bite her, they would come face to face with those nasty spikes.
Each time they managed to get her closer and closer to the right pose with her tails out of the way, her head down and protected, and her sharpest spikes on prominent display. They followed the correct pose with repeating different variations on the word ‘thorns’ to get her used to associating the sound with the action of curling up and brandishing the spikes.
9 [151.25, 6.8] Thorns - 5
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Post by Silver on Aug 13, 2023 5:26:08 GMT -6
“Now for the pressure test,” they said. This part could be fun, if they did it right. The only way to learn how to do something in the stress of a fight would be… to simulate the stress of a fight. Silver didnt like to harm their creatures, but they didn’t have to to get the point across.
They grabbed some mushy old berries off a nearby wilting bush and threw one without warning at Kwist. She hissed with annoyance as it struck her side. “Thorns, Kwist! Quickly!” they said, tossing another berry at her. They hit hard enough to explode with juice against her body, but not enough to harm her. Especially considering how squishy and old they were.
After hearing that same word 'thorns' enough times, Kwist took a defensive stance like before. Now the berries became skewered by her spikes, greatly reducing their annoyance. It seemed like she quickly learned that she would have to bare her spikes if she wanted to avoid being pelted by squishy berries.
Now and then Silver reinforced the right behavior by sharing a treat or a pat with her, but they felt like the berries really got the point across the best. Once they were out of things to throw, they decided it was time for a break. She seemed to have gotten the right idea.
10 [151.3, 7] Thorns - 6
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Aug 13, 2023 10:24:18 GMT -6
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Post by Silver on Sept 21, 2023 1:18:08 GMT -6
“Good job, Kwist,” Silver said. They flopped into the grass nearby an untilled garden bed and took a deep breath. The ground smelled earthy and familiar. They found the sensation of the cool grass and loamy soil very comforting.
Kwist began scratching at her back where a clump of seeds was stuck to her skin. She first tried nibbling it off, but her own spines got in the way. Then she tried to use her claws, but she couldn’t reach. She slapped her tails against the ground in frustration. So itchy!
“Oh! Sorry, sorry. Let me help,” Silver said. They propped themselves up with their elbow and rubbed the seeds and juice off of her skin with their free hand. “That was my fault, I’m sorry,” they said.
As they finished brushing off all the extra little bits that didn’t fall off on their own, Silver felt something brush against their other hand.
11 [151.35, 7.2]
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