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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:34:52 GMT -6
She'd done this before - with every creature that she had brought in to the mansion, with almost all her houlou, almost all of her pets in general. Sevyrn found that the best way to teach a pet to follow her was to first ask them to come over to her, and then walk herself while requesting them to 'follow me'. Surely that method would work again here, she figured, so she set herself up to do just that.
"Fier, come here," she said as she reached a few meters away, stopping and turning to face him. Once the ghaenelt had cleared most of the distance she then started to back away herself. "Okay, now follow me," she said, emphasizing the follow part, and offered the ghaenelt a treat for continuing to walk towards her. Once she had done that a couple times she stopped to let him reach her, and gave him a good pat as a reward.
24 Follow - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:37:25 GMT -6
From there she continued to work with the young ghaenelt, keeping the bouts of following short until he seemed less confused about the idea of it all. Why was she asking him to come over to her and then walking away, anyways? He didn't really get it, but he knew that she thought he was a good boy for doing it so he did.
After a while she started to make the jaunts a little longer, three or four lengths rather than two. All the while she kept repeating the command at hand every few steps, and offering him treats approximately every other call. At the end of each jaunt he got to be loved on and he was just loving it all! It was so easy to teach critters that wanted to be praised and rewarded as long as the person responsible for them had a little bit of patience.
25 Fier - 5 Follow - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:41:21 GMT -6
A strong foundation led to the best results so Sevyrn did not want to rush Fier's learning process. At the same time there had to be a balance when it came to rewards - he could not walk away from this training expecting to be rewarded every time that he did as he was told to. Every creature that Sevyrn came to care for taught her a bit more about the intricacies of training, where to push limits and where to let off. Each creature made her a little smarter, a little more aware of what was going on, and a little more knowledgeable about how to correct mistakes and redirect a pet's energy to the task at hand.
She definitely needed to start weaning treats off now - every second call to follow her turned in to every third or forth, and the distance between calls grew as well. Fier was picking up the concept just fine.
26 Follow - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:45:00 GMT -6
"What a good little ghaenelt," Sevyrn cooed after finishing another jaunt - Fier had just reached her and his tail was wagging in happiness. He loved the praise! Sevyrn was really proud of his progress and thought that they might be about done with this part of the process, so she prepared for the final test. With one call she would walk for a while without turning around, and once she reached her destination she would expect the ghaenelt to be close by. It would be easy enough for a creature who understood the command.
"Follow me," Sevyrn said to the ghaenelt, and then began her trek. She knew exactly where she was going to go now - the rickety front doors leading in to the mansion. If Fier was ready to be within the building, he would be at or near her side. If not... well, it wasn't time for them to enter.
She climbed up the small stair case and only then turned her neck to look behind her. It seemed that it was time to go in - Fier was scurrying along behind her still.
27 Follow - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:52:14 GMT -6
"Are you ready?" Sevyrn asked the ghaenelt as she dared to take further steps towards the door, closing the distance and looking towards her ghaenelt before she dared to put her hands down on the knob. Her intentions had caught the attention of her bone familiars who had moved in tandem with each other to join her. Had they accidentally got trapped outside? Whatever it was, they would likely be great company once inside.
"Let's go," Sevyrn said. She slowly turned the knob and the old, worn-down door creaked open to reveal a pitch black room beyond. Well... it was a good thing that she brought a flashlight! Sevyrn pulled hers out of her bag and took her first steps within the mansion today. Once everyone had followed her in she closed the door behind them.
... and then her flashlight flickered off. Fuck - had it needed new batteries before she left?
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:56:10 GMT -6
The group of four were left with nothing but the orange and red glows of the familiars eyes and that seemingly magical orb that floated near them... but at least there was a faint light. Sevyrn could barely see a thing and she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be granted any kind of night vision... this would be a rough trip here. Was there a candle anywhere here? Maybe she should just try the flashlight again?
So she did - and it flickered twice before dying off completely once again. Fier whimpered from between her feet. It seemed that they had been very lucky to encounter these bone familiars, who offered a slight glow in the otherwise pitch darkness.
"I guess you two are going to be leading the way," Sevyrn said with a shrug, squinting in hopes that she might be able to find a candle among the darkness.
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 2, 2020 14:59:54 GMT -6
Ah! Maybe they were lucky- Sevyrn thought she saw the outline of a candle holder, its base revealed by the reflection of the black bone familiar's red glow. She moved towards it and snatched it off the table it sat upon and she was in luck - half a candle awaited her, she just needed to find a match. She shrugged one arm of her backpack off of her shoulder and then started to rummage through her bag in hopes of finding some.
She was able to pull out a pack - but only three remained. She had to hope that she was able to get it right the first time, and that the candle didn't blow out on her too many times during this trip... She held her breath as she struck a match and the gentle glow of its small flame offered another momentary source of illumination.
She was, thank the gods, able to light the candle.
30 Fier - 6
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Post by Nadia on Oct 2, 2020 19:44:09 GMT -6
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 6:16:21 GMT -6
"You ready to go?" Sevyrn asked Fier, who chattered back to her in a fearful way - it seemed that the young ghaenrlt wasn't quite used to the dark like this, understandably.
"You're alright," Sevyrn assured the little one. They may as well wait it out here until Fier was no longer afraid of the dark, right? It would take a little bit more patience from Sevyrn but that was no problem at all - she needed some time to get used to the darkness herself before she would be able to wander deeper in, after all.
Sevyrn crouched down to the ground so that ahe would be able to pet the young hydra's back, and that was when she realized that he was so bothered that he was shaking... candlelight and familiar glow was the brightest that they were going to get, though.
"Hey - everything is going to be okay, Fier. I will make sure of it."
31 Accept Darkness - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 6:22:48 GMT -6
Sevyrn squatting brought the candle light closer to Fier, and the closeness of the light seemed to put him at ease just slightly. Perhaps that was the best first step here? Sevyrn had never needed to train a creature like this before and she had no idea what to offer the young thing... Fier needed to he able to handle the darkness if he was going to be here with her today.
She supposed that, with time, the young ghaenelt would come to adjust to the darkness and that some gentle assurance along the way might help. She gave the baby hydra several pats along his back until he seemed to stop shaking - but she had thought too early that he was doibg okay.
With his light source and comfort pulled away, the baby began to whimper at Sevyrn's feet. "You're going to be okay," Sev tried to assure him, hating seeing him so afraid.
32 Accept Darkness - 2
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 6:36:59 GMT -6
There was nothing that she could do but offer the ghaenelt patience and praise - with the candle pulled away from him the two bome familiars were probably nothing but strange moving orbs, would that help or hinder? They did bring a soft glow to wherever they stood, but in dead darkness that may have been creepy rather than appealing...
Well it was a good thing that Fier was going to be getting used to a lot of creepy things today. After a while he stopped shaking vigorously at her feet, but she could still feel the vibrations of his body and that soft little whiny whimper that made it clear that he was not comfortable being in here.
"I'm sorry that you're afraid, but all will be well." It was the best sentiment that Sevyrn could offer the little thing right now. She truly was saddened to see him so afraid.
33 Accept Darkness - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 6:44:11 GMT -6
"Shh, shh," Sevyrn hushed, placing the candle holder back down on the table she had found it so that she would be able to crouch down to Fier's level without reintroducing the soft glowing candlelight to him - she didn't have it in her heart to pull that away from him a second time. She then did just that, crouched down so that she could give him some physical comfort.
The ghaenelt got a few pats and a little treat, and then for the first time ever chose to try to climb in to Sevyrn's arms. "No, no, sweet one," Sevyrn said to him. As much as she wanted to hold him, he needed to figure this out mostly on his own.
"Everything will be fine Fier," she said, and then gave him a scratch at the base of his necks. The ghaenelt whined as Sevyrn stood back up, but he seemed to slowly be getting a little bit more comfortable.
34 Accept Darkness - 4
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 6:55:37 GMT -6
It wasn't much longer before the ghaenelt's whimpering finally quelled, it seemed for good - Sevyrn was immensely thankful as it had hurt her to know that one of her creatures, one of the babies at that, was so afraid of something that she had dragged them in to. The little one deserved better than to be afraid, and Sevyrn wanted Fier to know that no matter what went on he was safe when she was there with him. The dark wasn't so bad - in fact compared to some of the things that they would probably come across today, darkness alone was nothing in comparison. Sevyrn had a feeling that Fier would be facing a lot of fears here today.
"See? It's not so bad," Sevyrn said to the ghaenelt, hoping that he would be ready to move on. She wasn't about to rush him, but he seemed to be handling the darkness much better now.
35 Fier - 7 Accept Darkness - 5
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 7:08:14 GMT -6
Alright... it was time to move on - slowly, of course, she wasn't about to push Fier any faster than he wanted to go. Before Sevyrn could even take her first steps the floorboards began to creak, moving towards the room to the left of the entrance... Before Sevyrj could even realize that it was one of the bone familiars venturing deeper in to what had been the only home that they knew, Fier was trembling again. Did the noises scare him?
"It's okay," Sevyrn soothed, and urged the ghaenelt to follow along after her as she stepped to follow the familiar. The first board creaked and then the one after it - it seemed that the mansion was ripe with noises meant to be off-putting. Sevyrn continued to assure the wary, whining ghaenelt that everything was going to be okay. It was just some floorboards, there was nothing to be afraid of...
36 Accept Noises - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 3, 2020 7:14:38 GMT -6
Oh, the poor little thing seemed scared shitless... Sevyrn's heart hurt so much knowing that but what was she supposed to do? If she just picked him up now and walked away from here with him, he would still have the same fear in the future- at least right now she was here to help him battle it out as much as he might need.
She encouraged him with each step - with the creaking of floorboards being a common noise, he was likely to realize that on its own was not worth being scared of relatively easily... that was good, right?
But the mansion wasn't going to go that easily on them - it never would. As Sevyrn picked her candle up off the table and moved through the door frame to the next room, the floorboards creaked beneath her feet just in time for thunder to shake the walls of the building, and lighting lit up the broken window almost instantly.
37 Accept Noises - 2
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