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Post by Xentus on Sept 14, 2021 23:07:37 GMT -6
Xentus drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. The choice now was whether or not he actually wanted to have his lungs full of water.. It wasn't ever a comfortable experience, even if he could 'breathe' the water. It felt heavy and choking. A shudder ran down his spine as he thought of it. Unless he really needed to, he decided to stay on the surface and hold his breath if he needed to dive in. Before going in however, he was going to disrobe. Going home soaked was not in the plan today. The leopard scanned the area, making sure he'd chosen a secluded place on the river. The coast looked clear.. The only eyes to judge him would be those of fish and the wiurn. His rope-belt was untied and his pants were cast off to the side, leaving his body free to the elements.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 14, 2021 23:32:19 GMT -6
He was almost always half naked anyway. Shirts were itchy and annoying. Thankfully, it seemed that mammalians could get away with being 'indecent' around here with all the fur. He chuckled to himself and stepped into the water, letting the cool liquid flow between his toes before working his way further into the shallows. Mizura excitedly watched him from deeper in, head poking above the water. There was a small shell in her mouth with aquatic weeds trailing from it. "Found yourself a friend, Miz?", her keeper commented as he waded toward her, "Let Xentus look at it" In reality, he didn't want the dragon eating random crabs or plants. Her diet was mostly of terrestrial animal meats, like any of her kind would eat. The occasional fish was a treat, and he did admit to giving her fish more often.. But this wasn't tine for a snack! Unfortunately, the dragon saw her keeper's approach as an invitation to play.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 14, 2021 23:38:00 GMT -6
And the poor seaweedle was the toy. The overgrown lizard ducked down into the water again, flicking her tail to give the man a splash. Xentus rolled his eyes. Should've expected as much. He'd indulge her this time, but he really did need to teach that beast some manners. The leopard took a deep breath in and plunged himself into the water, paddling in the direction where he last saw the wiurn. She was far too fast for him to ever catch up with, but with her craving playtime, she was nestled near the bottom of the river. Waiting. And when he made it to her, she'd swim away and fin another place to wait for him to catch up. His best bet would be to try to grab at her when she raced by. A challenge for his underwater agility. He saw it play out in his head, almost lamenting the struggle it would be.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 14, 2021 23:51:27 GMT -6
'What a pain', he complained to himself as he swam toward the striped wiurn. She laid belly-up on the riverbed, wings extended with her feet playfully grabbing at the water. The seaweedle was still clutched between her teeth helplessly. The man's eyes were locked onto the wiurn's, staring hard at her as if to warn her against moving away like he predicted. He was able to get fairly close, almost able to reach out and touch her feet. But it was a tease. The wiurn's tail began pumping, making her body slide against the floor and churn up mud into the water. Xentus reeled back from the cloud of muck, watching as the beast disappeared beyond it. At about the same time, his lungs began aching for air. He let the strain set in, resisting the urge to surface so that he could watch for where the wiurn was going to be settled this time.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 15, 2021 0:06:29 GMT -6
It took a short while for the mud to settle, letting Xentus catch a glimpse of the wiurn scrambling on top of a large, submerged boulder down in a pit of the river. From the looks of it, it was fairly slippery, covered in algae. The leopard breathed out a chuckle as he returned to the surface for a breath. Then back down he went, swimming to the wiurn once more. Looking again, there seemed to be something odd about the way she was scrabbling. Normally she was fairly graceful in the water, but there was a certain franticness. Tail lashing, wings pinned closely to her side, feet kicking erratically. For a moment, he figured it was part of her playful antics in trying to cause a scene - he would've fallen for it. And he was for the most part debating whether or not it was play still while diving down toward her.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 15, 2021 0:12:16 GMT -6
The wiurn was good at being dramatic when she wanted to be. Feeding time was (when he did so in place of Xio) chaotic, with Mizura and Nazura vying to be the first for their meals. She'd cause such a scene, spritzing the flaming one with water and nipping at his tail.. He'd just let them figure it out while he fed the other dragons. The particular act he was looking at now though.. Seemed to be less and less of an act as the wiurn flailed in the water. And soon, he was close enough to see the thin netting entangling her. Immediately, the leopard was thrown to alert, kicking harder to reach his companion. There were no words he could say to calm her.. And in her thrashing, she probably wasn't paying much mind to him coming closer. The giant beast could easily accidentally strike him with her tail, or sting with one of her barbs. What to do..!
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Post by Jack on Sept 17, 2021 21:30:38 GMT -6
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Post by Xentus on Sept 18, 2021 17:06:20 GMT -6
The wiurn struggled against the net, getting herself entangled further. Now that the man swam close enough, it looked like the cast net was old, rugged, and full of holes. Long abandoned by whoever once used it. Left as trash in the river.. Xentus was disgusted and disheartened. That could've been some hapless creature, left to die in a hopeless struggle. Part of him was thankful it was his own companion trapped - he could free her and take the net with him for disposal.
The mammalian continued his dive, narrowly evading some fish barreling past him. At first, he thought they were frightened by the thrashing wiurn. But he soon came to see an odd little.. Jellyfish? Not something he'd seen before, but its body told him enough of the danger it might pose. Er.. What to do about this? He had nothing on hand to shoo it away. And he didn't want it to haplessly get tangled in the net too, that wouldn't bode well for the wiurn. At a loss, the man bared his teeth and blew bubbles as he tried to growl at the squirt. A difficult thing to do underwater..
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Post by Jack on Sept 20, 2021 14:19:17 GMT -6
The mammalian bared his teeth at it, but it looked a little confused. It just wanted to play, what was wrong with that? Flopping a little more, it wasn't sure if it should go away or not, it just wanted a friend.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 20, 2021 19:19:43 GMT -6
Egh, of course this thing didn't understand. Bared teeth weren't exactly used by fish as a threat, and thus weren't perceived as threatening. Xentus's eyes flicked between the black squirt and the writhing wiurn over yonder. The jellyfish thing wasn't exactly impeding his path.. But the strange motions of the equally strange creature had him wary. Was it a threat display? Was it an invitation? It could be hunting him for all he knew. And with his pondering, an idea struck him. Maybe he could mimic it. Whatever those motions meant, if he copied them, the strange creature would either feel challenged by a much larger creature or be at ease with the familiar movements. 'Hold on, Miz..', the leopard thought to himself, hoping the wiurn wouldn't be too upset with him for taking so long to save her. Then he attempted to flop as the squirt did, using his fingers to mirror tendrils and flailing in the water in an awkward display.
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Post by Jack on Sept 22, 2021 18:41:45 GMT -6
Ah yes! A friend! It did a flip in the water and wiggled its tentacles for a bit with a happy expression on its face. Scooting a little closer, it tilted to the side a little, as though cocking its head and then waited for another motion.
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Post by Xentus on Sept 22, 2021 19:07:42 GMT -6
In the past, he'd had some success in getting along with his own pets by simply copying them. Body language spoke well, and it seemed this did the trick with the strange jellyfish too. What exactly did his motions translate to.. He had no idea. But the black squirt seemed to be friendly? Oh he really couldn't figure this out. Xentus watched the thing wiggle around some more, trying to decide whether or not it was up to something. It seemed to look at him expectantly. As expectantly as those beady eyes could seem, that is. The leopard blew some more bubbles then tilted opposite to the squirt, sinking down into the river a little in the process. Oh he really hoped this wasn't some sort of courtship ritual. More air escaped him as he winced at the thought, the last of his held breath. Thankfully he had no fear of drowning with the amulet he wore - just the unpleasant sensation of water filling his nose.
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Post by Nadia on Oct 6, 2021 14:50:55 GMT -6
The squirt likes you! It mimics your movements yet again, tentacles wiggling with excitement. Looks like the little guy just wanted a buddy after all... and it's going to be following you around now, so have fun with that.
[Congratulations, you have successfully tamed the creature!]
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Post by Xentus on Jul 25, 2023 22:51:25 GMT -6
> Trip 3 epilogue. Exeunt Mizura.
There was no better place to clear his mind. The sound of the flowing river filled his ears. The warmth of the sun-heated rock on which he sat on relaxed him to his core. Eyed closed. Senses cleared. Mind open. Xentus meditated in peace. Alone, but not lonely. It was all too often that he had the company of some creature to take his attention. Not that he minded it. No, he genuinely preferred it. It kept him grounded and gave him purpose. But once every so often, he needed an escape. He had very few options for total seclusion. His home was shared with creatures. Downtown was far too busy. The magic mansion was daunting. The mountains were exhausting. But the river? It was perfect. Far, but not so far that he might just wander away entirely. He could stay like this for a while, then return home at dusk.
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Post by Xentus on Jul 25, 2023 23:05:22 GMT -6
There was still a bit more time before he'd decide it was time to leave. Time to think. There was so much he'd wanted to do and accomplish. The creatures to tame. The fights to win. Ah and the research to be done. A smirk lifted the edge of his lip. He'd thrown himself into such work for the past few months - to the point of neglect for a number of his more needy creatures. He'd realized he had a lot of catching up to do.. Yet he didn't quite know where to start. A long exhale escaped the mammalian man. He opened his eyes and peered at the glimmering water. It reminded him that time didn't stop for anyone. Keep up or be washed away. An amused hum sounded from his throat. He'd made up his mind to get back to the more adventurous side of living. With a grunt, Xentus rose to his feet and stretched, then headed out. The sun was starting to set.
Using Pellets (3 Remaining)
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