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Post by Jack on Feb 10, 2021 19:11:17 GMT -6
The dragon huddled behind the man's legs, peeking out to see the worm hiss and coil up in front of them, staring them down in order to try and intimidate them all away from it's prey at the moment. It was made of gems, it would be part of its hoard and all would be well. Things would finally start to go it's way, at least that's what it would think if it was intelligent. All it knew was, they needed chased off, and it settled there, hissing and spitting, teeth gnashing together as it lunged forward for an attack.
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Post by Kadin on Feb 10, 2021 19:35:11 GMT -6
Damn, that worm was NOT happy. Kadin was starting to get a bit worried that he might be on the menu next. Taking in a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down and reached down into his pocket, rummaging around until he pulled out a handful of shiny, sparkly gem treats. He was always sure to have some on hand down here, especially with Kunzite, considering that the familiar didn't always feel like handing over the gems that it found until the last minute. Hopefully they'd come in handy now. All creatures down here liked gems, right???
"Hey, there. Calm down, buddy, there's no need to be like that." Kadin spoke in a smooth, calming tone. He tossed a couple of the treats towards the worm, hoping that the sight of something shiny would at least distract it. Best case scenario? It would eat them and he'd be able to talk it down from its tantrum that way. Worst case? They'd all have to make a run for it. At least the other familiar was sensibly staying behind him. He'd offer it treats, too, but he didn't want to risk angering the worm at the moment.
Kunzite continued to ignore everything that was going on. Really, a stand up familiar.
177
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Post by Jack on Feb 10, 2021 20:01:11 GMT -6
As the dragon huddled up behind the man, pleased it had found a protector (and happy to go wherever it was he went at this point), the worm hissed again and lunged toward the sparkly bits at the last second, keeping several eyes on the man as it ate. This wasn't good, it still wasn't happy, but this had done something to help a little, it would seem. Worms weren't the brightest, and they were quite aggressive, but maybe this one could be calmed down.
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Post by Kadin on Feb 10, 2021 20:12:13 GMT -6
Oh, shit. Kadin contemplated their chances of running away and how well that might work out for them, but at the last minute, it seemed like the worm had taken the bait (hah, irony). He let out a small sigh of relief, pleased that the worm could at least be bribed a little, it seemed. Once it gobbled up the treats on the ground, he threw out a handful this time to see if it would eat them, too, instead of attacking. He didn't quite trust the look in its eyes to offer it any treats from his hands yet, but he figured that continuing to butter it up couldn't hurt anything. Worst case, he'd have to hit it over the head with a shovel, grab his critters, and hightail it out of them. But before he needed to make that decision, he grabbed a second handful of treats and tossed it over to the worm, just to see how much he could get it to chill out. It'd be better to make friends with it, right?
The houluh, somehow, was still passed out in his arms through all of this. Kunzite was also inspecting a particular patch of wall even more closely, probably unhappy with how close to Kadin the other familiar was getting, but unwilling to show it.
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Post by Jack on Feb 10, 2021 21:07:09 GMT -6
The dragon had already decided it would go with the man and his entourage, but the worm had other ideas. Snarling and hissing, it shot forward and aimed at between the man's legs, attempting one last shot at getting the dragon. While it wasn't sure it would make it, it didn't think too much about it, acting mostly on instinct and a strong predatory nature to attack and chase off the dragon. Sure, it might fail, but what did that really mean?
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Post by Kadin on Feb 10, 2021 21:12:22 GMT -6
Well, this was not going well.
The worm didn't seem interested in the treat he kept scattering. In fact, it seemed so uninterested that it ignored them entirely in favor of lunging at the other familiar! Shit. At least it wasn't going for Kunzite. Thinking fast, Kadin quickly place the puppy behind him while at the same time he reached out with his other arm to wrap it around the worm's body right behind what seemed to be its head. Once the puppy was safely out of the way (and, somehow, still aslseep), Kadin wrapped his other arm around the worm, too, and sort of straddled the rest of its body with his legs, squeezing it between his thighs as best he could. He didn't want to hurt the damn thing and he didn't want to get hurt himself, so he tried to hold on to the area right behind to head to make sure it couldn't turn around and bit him, while he just sort of. Restrained it.
"Get back!" He warned the familiars and the... the sleeping houluh (really, what the hell?), as he tried to just. Physically hold down the worm. If the nice guy route wasn't going to work, this was the best he could come up with, short of trying to get Kunzite to fight it.
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Post by Jack on Feb 11, 2021 8:23:12 GMT -6
While the dragon scrambled back a little ways, the worm thrashed it's tail and body around, snapping as best as it could with it's large mouth at the air out of frustration. It's efforts were rewarded with exhaustion pretty quickly though and the thrashing slowly calmed down until it just twitched every now and then, eyeing the man above it with irritation every now and then. If it was released, it would probably try and bolt, but for now, everything seemed to be fine and calm in the mines once more.
[Congratulations, you've tamed and trapped the familiars!]
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Post by Kadin on Feb 11, 2021 8:31:00 GMT -6
At this point, Kadin had broken numerous sarane in the pit before. He knew his way around holding on to a squirming creature that didn't want to have anything to do with him. He might not know worm body language specifically, but he could get fucking by. So he grimly held on as the worm thrashed around and tried to get away, not letting up even as the thrashing slowly died away and the creature seemed to just accept its fate of being caught by him. He didn't like the look in its eyes even after it had given, up, though, so after some thought he wrapped his arms more tightly around it and just bodily lifted the whole damn thing up once it had stopped squirming around. Then he walked it over and tossed it into the cart he'd brought along, tying it up for good measure. He wasn't going to let all that effort go to waste just to see it escape the moment he got his hands off of it!
At this, Kunzite finally decided that it was worth looking over to see what the human was doing. It passed by the STILL sleeping puppy, and looked down at the captured familiar with disdain.
180 *level up
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Post by Jack on Feb 11, 2021 8:36:29 GMT -6
A clacking could be heard as the man tied up the worm, and if he looked to the side, he could see a... watcher of some sort, holding a dull, pink stone. It's cold, empty eyes stared as it tried to understand what he was attempting to do, and what he really wanted down in the mines.
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Post by Kadin on Feb 11, 2021 8:46:00 GMT -6
With a clang and some disgruntled scuffling noises, Kadin finally got the worm settled in the cart. With a sigh, he brushed off his hands and turned to look and see what the rest of the creatures were doing. The dragon familiar seemed to have settled in a different part of the cart, far away from the worm, which was fine with him. He wouldn't bother with it. Kunzite had lost interest, again, and was instead staring deeply into the dark to the side, attention captured by.... something. Kadin just shrugged it off and went to go pick up his houluh first. Once the puppy was safely back in his arms, he walked over to see what had his familiar so entranced.
And stopped short.
"Is that... a gargoyle?" Kadin asked incredulously. He'd heard rumors that they lived down here in the mines, but to see one in person was... different. It's hollow eyes were empty, yet somehow almost intelligent. He hesitated, wondering what the hell was happening today that he kept running into strange creatures like this, before deciding he was just going to sit the fuck down and try to talk to this one. It didn't look like it'd appreciate him trying to wrestle it.
"Hey there." He said carefully. "Nice stone you've got there. We aren't trespassing on your turf, are we? We're just here looking for gems." Great. Wonderful. He had no idea what to say to this thing. What a great start.
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Post by Jack on Feb 11, 2021 8:48:07 GMT -6
Tilting it's head, it opened it's beak and clacked before a rumble came out of it's throat. What was it doing here? What was any of them doing here? Taking a small step forward, it nudged the stone with a clawed foot and tilted it's head the other way, clacking again for a moment as though trying to ask a question, why were they here?
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Post by Kadin on Feb 11, 2021 8:54:58 GMT -6
Kadin watched as the gargoyle seemed to be trying to attempt to communicate with him. Or, at least, that's what he thought it was doing. It could be threatening him for all he knew. He hummed softly and shifted to the side so he could dig into his pockets, pulling out some spare gems and crystals that he kept on him whenever he was down here. He had the treats, too, of course, but this thing seemed more intelligent that the god damn worm he'd just wrestled. He held up the gems, showing it an emerald and heliotrope, malachite and rhodonite. He put the gems down on the ground and tapped them a couple of times. Then he looked over at Kunzite and told the familiar, "Search."
Kunzite swirled around itself, seeming to bristle at being given a command. But, still, it knew what was asked of it. It swept up the gems into its shadows, holding them for later and for comfort, whichever. Both. It sulked by Kadin's side, staring at the gargoyle with suspicion, as if worried it might try to take the gems it had rightfully found itself. Kadin smiled faintly and nodded to himself before looking back at the gargoyle. "See? There's plenty of gems for all of us down here. You could even help us with them."
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Post by Jack on Feb 11, 2021 8:57:41 GMT -6
Hmm, an interesting proposition. The gargoyle nudged the stone a little closer as it took a few more steps toward the man and his companions. It was... interested in this, it had been alone for far too long, and could possibly point them toward something a little better than this at the moment. A few sparkly stones were nothing compared to it's own hoard. Clacking again, it leaned down and nudged the stone closer with its beak, wondering if the man was getting the message that it was trying to be friendly.
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Post by Kadin on Feb 11, 2021 9:06:53 GMT -6
Kadin watched carefully as the gargoyle came closer and nudged its stone closer, too. That was a positive sign, he figured. He looked down at the stone and backed up to the gargoyle, tilting his head a bit before he shrugged, leaned forward, and picked up the stone. He examined it for a moment, admiring the pink color of it, before putting it back down on the ground and adding some of his own stones and even a few magical crystals to the pile. Then he looked up at the gargoyle with a smile. "Think of all the cool stuff we could find working together, right? What do you say?"
He nudged the small pile closer to the gargoyle, offering it friendship in what was hopefully the same way it had been offering it to him. He hoped he wasn't reading this wrong.
The houluh, meanwhile, continued to sleep in his arms. Kunzite stared at the precious pile of stones and crystals, a bit worried that they were about to lose their hoard to a wild familiar who had no appreciation for all the work that had gone in to gathering it. It looked over at the gargoyle suspiciously, waiting to see what it would do next.
183
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Post by Jack on Feb 11, 2021 9:09:51 GMT -6
With a flutter of its wings, the gargoyle hopped forward over the pile and sniffed a little at the man and then at the puppy in his arms. Well this was a little different, but... not unwelcome. Tilting it's head, it clacked at the familiar for a moment before nodding and moving over to the cart, peering inside to see what it could see. It knew the man had caught two other familiars, and it was impressed enough at the moment, right? Giving a little nod, it leaned forward when it came in front of the man again and lightly went to touch his forehead with its own.
[Congratulations, you've tamed the gargoyle!]
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