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Post by Silver on Apr 6, 2021 0:12:18 GMT -6
"Ah, see? Nothing to fear, little one," Silver said. Though the words 'little one' hardly described a creature that they could easily ride around. Even at this young age, she was taller than they were. They weren't even mature yet, but Maggie was already bigger than most of the smaller Equillion. They knew some really, really small Equillion, but that wasn't the one they were thinking about.
"What do you think, would you like to help me clean up?" They said softly. Like most creatures, she would agree to anything as long as they said it in that soft, cheerful tone. She watched silently as they walked past her and began to pick up twigs and leaves from the ground, one by one. When they collected a full armful, they realized quickly that they had not thought of a place to put it. They wandered around for a moment, and eventually gave up and dumped the twigs next to Quin's nest.
[117.9, 0.6]
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Post by Silver on Apr 6, 2021 0:19:42 GMT -6
Quin let out a grumble, just to let Silver know that he saw what they were doing and didn't appreciate it. They rolled their eyes. He was being awfully dramatic for someone who didn't have to do anything. They shook their head at him and pondered what to do next.
They knew that there had to be something nearby to help them out. A basket or container of some kind, perhaps? They could always get a wheelbarrow, but they hadn't thought to bring one. They were really hoping not to have to go home again just for that.
Suddenly, Maggie jumped in the air with the fur on her tail all poofed out. Silver jumped as well, and turned to see what had happened. A loud sound came from a nearby fence post, and it startled both of them. Maggie shied away from it, but Silver moved closer to investigate.
[118, 0.8]
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Post by Silver on Apr 15, 2021 0:22:52 GMT -6
"Stay close," Silver instructed, but it was not a command that she knew. Nonetheless, she halfway hid behind them and tried to look over their head to see what had happened. Finally, as nothing else exciting followed, her fur began to smooth out and she was able to relax.
Silver moved up to the fence carefully and slowly. They wanted to be ready in case someone was there, waiting to attack them. Had someone else set up shop nearby, and that was a training accident? Did they want to get through the fence for some nefarious purpose? Their paranoid mind ran through a dozen ideas, each worse than the last.
"Oh..." they said quietly. It was as if they deflated while saying it. "Look Maggie," they explained. "The fence is broken here, it must have finally fallen into this other post. We will have to repair it before it does more damage to itself."
[118.2, 1]
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Post by Silver on Apr 16, 2021 0:11:43 GMT -6
Now Silver had the technical knowhow to fix a fence, but it would probably take them a while. What else could they have expected with all of this wind? It wasn't what they wanted to do when they came here today, but they knew that they would have to do it. They just hoped that Maggie wouldn't get too bored hanging around while they did it. Perhaps they could even trick her into helping.
"We will need to replace that plank," Silver said. They pointed at a broken bit of the fence, which they could tell from there was beyond repair.
"Come with me, Maggie," they said. They clicked their tongue and encouraged her to stay close by. "I suppose we'll be getting supplies after all." Silver began to make a mental note of what things they would need. Some nails, tools, extra wood, and not to forget a way to carry it all back...
[118.3, 1.2]
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Post by Silver on Apr 16, 2021 0:28:53 GMT -6
Silver quickly purchased the supplies they needed as well as a small cart to put them all in. The cart wasn't cheap, but it was something they realized they needed more than once, so they were happy enough to spend a little extra on it. They gently stacked the supplies into the cart, which took them a lot longer than it should have. There's a reason people who did this stuff for a living were always tossing things around, but Silver preferred to be careful.
"Alright Maggie, this is where you come in," Silver said. They grabbed the rope that the cart was attached to and held it up for her to see. She snorted at it, not thinking one way or the other about what it was. They were sure that she wouldn't love pulling the cart, but they figured that she looked strong enough that it wouldn't bother her too much. If it did, well, they would just have to pull it themselves.
[118.4, 1.4]
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Post by Silver on Apr 16, 2021 0:41:24 GMT -6
Silver used a free paw to rub Maggie's head and scratch around her ears. They wanted her to be as calm as possible while asking her to do something she had never done before. They were a bit of an expert at this, so it wasn't hard for them to slip the rope into place while continuing to show her positive attention. Before she knew it, she was strapped in and ready to go.
When she turned her head, Maggie noticed the pulling feeling, and she didn't like it. She snorted and tried to pull away but the thing followed her. Panic sunk into her eyes and she was about to throw her head back to shake it loose when Silver stepped in. "Woah, woah," they said. "It'll be okay, this thing can't hurt you," they explained. "All you have to do is pull it along back to the fence, do you think you can do that? I bet you can."
[118.5, 1.6]
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Post by Silver on Apr 16, 2021 0:47:14 GMT -6
Maggie didn't like what was going on, but they did (sort of) trust Silver. They seemed very calm and unthreatened... she considered her options and decided not to struggle to free herself. This wasn't so bad, actually. It wasn't biting her or making any horrible sounds, so she could get used to it. Even if it was pretty weird.
"There we go, excellent job," Silver said. They pressed their face into her mane and used both hands to stroke her sides. This managed to calm her down the rest of the way, and they decided that they were ready to go. Though she probably wouldn't like the tugging sensation, once that started to happen.
"Come along, Maggie," Silver said. They encouraged her to follow along the same way they had done on the way here. She took a hesitant step, since she still felt like something was off, and she didn't care for the sensation.
[118.6, 1.8]
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Post by Silver on Apr 21, 2021 0:28:26 GMT -6
Maggie was reluctant to move with the harness pulling against her. Was it a trap? Was she being held down? She froze, unsure of what to do with the odd sensation. Silver thought this might happen, so they were right there to comfort her. "It's alright," they said, stroking her side again. "Nothing will hurt you, I promise." That was a pretty confident promise for someone who had no idea what they were doing most of the time.
Eventually, Maggie got over the odd feeling of the harness and decided that she could make it all the way back to the academy. She didn't hurry, of course, but they made it back to the fence without an issue. Now all they had to do was... actually repair the fence. It was going to be a lot of work to get the place up and running again, but they felt confident that they could work it out.
[118.7, 2]
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Post by Silver on Apr 21, 2021 0:39:10 GMT -6
The first thing Silver did was unhook Maggie so that she could run around freely. To their surprise, she stayed nearby to watch what they were doing instead of immediately running off into the grass. They didn't mind the company, of course, but it did surprise them.
Silver dug through the cart for the new planks, and stacked them next to the gaps in the fence where there were missing sections. Then they grabbed the woodworking nails that they had purchased, and finally the hammer that went with them. They looked up at the board and realized they had a problem. It would be hard to hold the boards and nail them in place all at once.
Could Maggie help? Silver wasn't sure, but they were keen to give it a try. They called her over and asked her to stay still for a moment while they sorted it out.
[118.8, 2.2]
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Post by Silver on Apr 24, 2021 5:20:45 GMT -6
"Alright... Maggie, you stay right... there," Silver gently pushed her so that she stood up against the fence. "Now can you stay? Stay there?" Silver held their paws up waited to see if she stayed put. When she didn't immediately wander off, they considered the endeavor a success.
They leaned a board against Maggie and encouraged her to pin it in place with her side. To their surprise, it was working out surprisingly well. Now the only question was if it would hold up to being fixed. Silver cautiously pulled a nail out of the box balanced on a nearby stump and rolled it around in their paw for a moment. No reason to delay! They held the nail in place and very gently tapped it with the hammer. Tap. Tap. Tap. Again they were surprised. Both Maggie and the board itself stayed in place long enough for them to finish nailing the board in place.
[118.9, 2.4]
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Post by Silver on Apr 24, 2021 5:28:51 GMT -6
"That's great, girl!" Silver scrubbed both sides of Maggie's head, then offered her a treat. They weren't really training her to hold boards up, but they wanted to let her know she did a good job anyway. After their joyful little moment of praise, they turned around and lightly sighed. They were so excited to get a single board in place... but there were so many more! What a drama.
"Okay we have to keep going if we want to finish this before the sun sets," Silver said. It was still early afternoon, but they knew how long that amount of work could take. They were increasingly thinking that they wouldn't get any training done today at all. There was too much to do otherwise. They wanted all of the training exercises to be safe, so they would have to clean everything that could possibly get in their way. Or perhaps they were being too cautious after all...
[119, 2.6]
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Post by Silver on Apr 25, 2021 0:00:19 GMT -6
"Alright Maggie, come along," they said. They waved their hands and she slowly wandered in their direction. It wasn't the immediate kind of response they'd get from a Vulticus pup, but they accepted it. For no formal training, she was pretty good at this. This was their first time working with a Repointe and they were quickly growing on them as a species. They had cute fluffy tails and noses like Vultici, but also the robust body and hooves of a Galabex. Best of both worlds, they thought.
They continued to hammer away at the fence planks while Maggie stood around and held them in place. They had plenty of treats and pats for her, so she was happy to come along for the ride. In fact, she seemed eager to get to the next hole in the fence once she figured out what was going on. She was clever enough to understand what they were doing eventually.
[119.1, 2.8]
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Post by Silver on Apr 25, 2021 5:49:05 GMT -6
Finally, they ran out of planks to put up. Silver breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back to review their hard work. It was all fairly straight and well made, which was the best that they could hope for. Maggie sniffed at the last plank they put up and looked around. Were there not any more? She was just starting to get the hang of it. She looked disappointed, or perhaps that was just their imagination.
"So, what do you think we should do now?" Silver asked. They were getting tired, but they knew they had to keep going if they wanted to get everything done in time. Otherwise they'd be wasting two days on storm clean-up instead of just one. Maggie wasn't sure what was going on, so she just waved her tail slowly as a sign of contentment. She trusted Silver to figure it out, which might not have been her best idea ever.
[119.2, 3]
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Post by Silver on Apr 26, 2021 3:14:54 GMT -6
“I guess we should keep cleaning up, then?” Silver said. They looked around at all of the fallen leaves and tree branches and remembered just how much there still was to do. At least working with Maggie made the time seem shorter.
“Here, I have a place for all of the supplies,” Silver said, looking off at the small building on the edge of the property. “I guess we can bring all this spare wood and the tools over there, just in case this happens again…”
Planning ahead wasn’t one of Silver’s strong suits, but they actually had a point. Keeping the spares for future use was a reasonable idea. They carefully stacked everything back into the cart and called Maggie back over. To their surprise, she didn’t protest the harness too much the second time. She was willing to put up with a lot. Perhaps it was all of those treats they kept giving her.
[119.3, 3.2]
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Post by Silver on Apr 26, 2021 3:15:15 GMT -6
Silver led Maggie over to the shed and began to unload the spare planks and the tools they wouldn’t be using any more. They stacked them neatly into a pile in one corner so that it would be out of the way. They were almost surprised at their own tidiness; usually they made a huge mess of things.
“Alright, Maggie, how are you feeling about the cart?” Silver asked. They gently rubbed her cheeks again as they had been doing. At first she would flinch away and not allow them to touch her face, but now she subtly leaned into their touch. They considered this to be a great success.
“Good, good,” they said softly. They automatically used their ‘soft’ voice when interacting with creatures. It was like second nature. They were also considerably more articulate and able to explain themselves when not talking to other people. They had long since stopped wondering why that was.
[119.4, 3.4]
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