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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 16:29:25 GMT -6
And then, once he had learned a bit more about fishing, he found out that he could get on well enough without them, so they had remained mostly forgotten, though he still had them in the box of tackle that he took with him on his trips. But he’d had more energy then, and more time. Now that that was no longer the case, well, he’d paid for them already. He may as well get some use out of them.
He cast the line, though it took him a couple of tries to get a cast that he was happy with. He clicked his tongue as the first one went awry. “Out of practice,” he muttered under his breath. He was more careful with the next one, but a part of him resented having to think through so much of it, rather than simply relying on muscle memory the way he could before.
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Post by Noa on Jul 31, 2023 16:32:17 GMT -6
Watching him make the cast, Rhys said, {Why don’t you ever just use magic to toss it out? I bet I could do it, if you don’t have a spell for it.} “It only takes a moment anyway if you know the right technique,” Noa replied. “And if you cast it, the momentum pulls the line out with the cast. You’d have to unspool the line yourself if you were just going to yank it out with your telekinesis. And then it might get tangled before you’ve flung it out.” It was probably still possible, but honestly it sounded like more hassle than it was worth, especially in the initial stage of trying to figure it all out. Rhys deflated a bit. {Oh, I didn’t realize that,} he said. But Noa simply shrugged; it was just a cost benefit consideration as far as he was concerned. 5
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Post by Nadia on Aug 2, 2023 1:37:46 GMT -6
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 20:28:04 GMT -6
He’d spent all that time learning how to fish, and it wasn’t as if his body was failing him to such a degree that magic was the only way to do it anymore. If he got to that point, he’d come back to Rhys’s suggestion, but until then he was content to do it the way he had until now.
With the line cast, however, he was content to prop it up on a little stand, and turn his attention to other things. He had brought Nightshade out to work with the Wiurn. Nothing too intense to start with, especially since it had been a while since he’d worked with Nightshade anyway, but still something useful -- learning how to swim. For that purpose, he had picked a place along the river where there was a little side arm, which fed into a wider, shallower stretch of water.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 20:32:39 GMT -6
If this had been the dry season, Noa might have been able to use parts of the river proper. It got low enough in places that a creature the size of a Wiurn would have been fine wading in. But it had been tougher to find a spot during the wet season where the current wasn't too quick; slow waters would have been fine, but under these conditions, even Nightshade could get swept away in the river proper.
With Rhys keeping an eye on the bobber, Noa led Nightshade to the shallow water. He waded in himself, until he was up to his waist, then said, "Come." Nightshade, to his credit, did as Noa commanded. He seemed a little uncertain at the water's edge, but waist-high water on a human wasn't even chest height on a Wiurn. Well, maybe if Nightshade bowed, but there was no point in making him do that.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 20:39:21 GMT -6
He moved awkwardly through the water, sloshing great waves of it with every step, especially with his forelimbs -- these also being his wings, since unlike Avander, he only had the four limbs total. It was a good thing they weren't doing this where he was fishing. But as unsubtle as his movements were, at least he didn't seem spooked, or overly bothered by the prospect of being wet. That was good.
"Come," Noa said again, stepping back a little further. Again, Nightshade followed. Noa was curious as to whether he would be able to lead the Wiurn all the way into the water just like this. Nightshade was, for whatever reason, of a more compliant nature than Avander, and perhaps not as cautious either... Though Noa hadn't had as much occasion to put that to the test either. Maybe he would find the limit of that compliance today, with this.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 20:49:25 GMT -6
Of course, Noa would have to start swimming himself long before they reached a point where Nightshade would be really challenged by the level of the water. As he stepped deeper in, he started having to tread water to stay afloat. He knew how to swim himself, that wasn't the issue, but the length of their training session would probably be limited by how long it took for him to get tired. He felt that he had to be in the water with Nightshade, at least at first.
The water had come up to Nightshade's chest by now, though it wasn't deep enough to cover his shoulders and back. His head was still well above water. From that vantage point, he noticed Noa's movements, and lowered his nose enough to gently bump Noa's shoulder. {What are you doing?} he said through the ribbon. He had never seen a human swim before.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 20:57:53 GMT -6
"I'm swimming," Noa said. "The water is too deep for me to walk anymore, so I have to do this to move around."
{But... you're not moving,} Nightshade said. Which, to be fair, Noa wasn't; he was treading water to stay in place. But maybe a demonstration would help Nightshade to see what Noa wanted him to do later, or at the very least, get him interested in the concept of swimming in general.
"Fine, I'll move then," Noa said, and began swimming properly, away from Nightshade. He went for a short distance, maybe fifty meters or so, before stopping and coming back out to the shallows, where his feet could touch the bottom again. "There," he said, glad for the fact that the ribbon carried his message across the distance without him having to shout. He didn't have the breath to speak at volume. "Is that enough movement for you?"
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 21:58:59 GMT -6
{Oh! You're faster than I thought!} came Nightshade's reply. Noa wondered if he ought to feel patronized by that kind of response, but in the end he decided it wasn't worth getting worked up about. Nightshade wasn't the type to be snippy and insinuating, so it most likely came from a place of genuine surprise.
"Why don't you try it next? Try to move without your legs touching the ground," Noa instructed. Some animals had a little basic instinctive drive regarding swimming, even if they weren't aquatic by nature. He wanted to see how Nightshade would move in the water without any specific instruction on how. There would probably be things that Noa did need to teach him, but it would be nice if he didn't have to instruct Nightshade down to the nitty gritty of how to move his body in the water full stop, since that might be a bit too much for Nightshade to handle.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 22:02:56 GMT -6
After all, this wasn't like working with Rhys; the ribbon helped with a lot of things, but it wouldn't make the Wiurn as cerebrally capable as a sentient creature.
Nightshade considered the water again, then waded a little deeper. Then he waded in a little further. And a little further still. After several rounds of wading, stopping, and wading again, he looked back at Noa. {It's not deep enough,} Nightshade said. {I can still touch the ground.} By this point the water was finally deep enough to cover his back, but his neck was still above water, and his head with it.
"Try to... push off the bottom," Noa said. "Then try to move without landing back down on the ground. Bend your legs if you have to." That was already a lot of instructions, and Noa was doubtful that Nightshade would be able to follow even half of it on the first try.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 22:07:02 GMT -6
Noa could also sense Nightshade's confusion. But gamely, the Wiurn did make an attempt -- one that resulted in a lot of water sloshing around in waves to either side of him. It was a good thing there was still some distance between him and Noa, or else one of those waves might have stood a risk of knocking Noa over. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to get into the water with Nightshade after all.
At first, Noa couldn't really make sense of what was happening because of all the splashing. But a little more observation, and he realized that essentially Nightshade was making big lunging jumps. Sighing and shaking his head, he said, "Stop." Nightshade stood still in the water again. "Rhys, can you hear me? Forget the rod and get over here. I'm going to need your help for this after all." He hadn't thought he would, but here they were.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 22:14:31 GMT -6
Rhys apparated to Noa's shoulder in a little puff of magic. {Here I am! Ready to help!} the Faeron said cheerfully. {So, what are we doing anyway?}
"We're trying to teach Nightshade here to swim, but it just isn't clicking for him," Noa said. "The way humans learn to swim starts with us holding onto something and kicking, but he doesn't have hands, and he's too big for me to lift. But you can probably lift him with your telekinesis, at least for a few minutes at a time, right?"
Rhys studied Nightshade. {I can... try,} Rhys offered. He hadn't had to lift anything that heavy before, so his uncertainty was understandable, but Noa thought he should still be able to do it. And the hope was that he wouldn't have to support Nightshade's full weight anyway, just give him enough stability to lift his limbs off the ground in the water.
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Post by Noa on Aug 5, 2023 22:19:07 GMT -6
"Good enough. Try to lift him by his stomach. Nightshade, Rhys is going to lift you up a bit so your claws can't touch the bottom anymore. Practice pushing the water with your limbs." Along with his words, Noa showed Nightshade what he wanted the Wiurn to do through their telepathic connection, and shared with him the sensation of how it felt to push against the water with his limbs. It was all new to Nightshade now, but hopefully once he had the chance to actually try it, he would understand it better.
Whether Nightshade really understood the objective or not though, he was happy to make the attempt. So, on Noa's signal, Rhys tried to lift the Wiurn by his chest and belly, while Nightshade tried to paddle in the water. "Slowly, slowly!" Noa said, when it looked like Nightshade might just start thrashing and churning up the water again.
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Post by Noa on Aug 6, 2023 17:41:48 GMT -6
If it weren't for their connection, and the fact that Noa could tell that Nightshade wasn't stressed at all, by this point one could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that Nightshade had some sort of fear of water. But it seemed that he just had no idea what to do, and defaulted to thrashing around. "Slowly," Noa said again. "One, two. One, two." With Noa counting for him, Nightshade moved his limbs alternatingly, pushing back with one offset pair and then the other. "Feel the water. You're pushing it back. One, two..."
In this manner, they went on for a little while, starting and stopping, until Nightshade seemed to get some sense for it and Noa could stop counting for him. By that point he had also managed to achieve a little forward thrust, which startled Rhys the first time Nightshade had managed to coordinate his movements enough to push forward.
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Post by Noa on Aug 6, 2023 17:50:08 GMT -6
Until now, he had really just been flailing in place. But now that he was moving in a controlled way with more intent, he could actually push himself through the water. Rhys had to adjust what he was doing to keep supporting Nightshade through the water. It was difficult work, especially since the Wiurn's pace was rather erratic, prone to starts and stops.
Now that he was able to paddle around, they moved in even deeper -- with Noa standing on the bank now, drying himself off with magic. There was no sense in staying in the water if he didn't have to, and even in the summer he could catch a cold if he ran around soaking wet. There was a spot where the ground dropped off more sharply than the gradual slope they'd seen so far, deep enough that even Nightshade couldn't reach the bottom with his head still above the water.
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