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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 19:31:05 GMT -6
It could feel that there were more gems here. It just knew it. It sought out the shadows, spreading its senses out and out and out, searching the cracks and hidden places first. They were its favorite places, after all, the places where gems lurked and it liked to uncover them. It took a while. It couldn't find much at all, what with the crystal taking up so much of its attention.
But it would take more practice for him to get that far.
Once Lux was jumping up and then down off the rock easily, Kadin held the treat out further. “Over, Lux! Jump over!” He said. Lux did the same thing as before, jumping up and then down. Kadin told him he was doing a good job, but he didn’t give him a treat this time. Instead, he held the treat over and across the rock again, encouraging him to jump OVER it and not up then down. Lux whined, confused and thrown off as to why he didn’t get a treat. He tried again, jumping up and practically sliding down the other side this time, but at least it was closer! They'd get this soon, he was sure.
Jump Over: 4
105 *level up
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 19:31:54 GMT -6
But eventually it found one thing. A small, circular gem. A garnet! It knew what these were, the human kept many back in his hoard for some reason. Kunzite swept it up into its shadows, nestling it next to the crystal. It needed to find more, wanted to find more, especially before the human finally sensed the crystal for sure and tried to take it off of it.
“Good, good Lux!” Kadin encouraged, giving him the treat for making some progress, as small as it was. “Jump over!” He encouraged again, wanting him to get this trick down.
Lux whined and tried again, jumping up and skidding his paws a bit on the stone before landing on the other side in a clumsy sprawl. “Shit! Are you ok, Lux!” Kadin said, concerned. He patted him down and gave him a treat for his troubles, using the chance to check him over. Luckily, Lux was a puppy and the fall wasn’t too far. He could take a few stumbles and be just fine. Relieved, Kadin had him try again once he was sure Lux was alright.
“Jump over, Lux!” He encouraged. Lux did jump over this time, surprisingly to perhaps everyone there.
Jump over: 5
106
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 19:33:42 GMT -6
Kunzite slunk back into the shadows, spreading out its awareness again, further this time. It was still having trouble sensing things thanks to the crystal. The magical energy was so strong, so consuming, it was hard to look for mundane gems over all of that. Really it would make the most sense to give it to Kadin. To let him keep watch over it and keep all the gems in one place so it could focus. But it was so loathed to give it up...
His jump was still a bit low, but he only stumbled when he landed on his feet instead of falling. “Great job, Lux! Good boy! Very good job!” Kadin encouraged, giving him treats and ear rubs for a job well done.
Now it was time for the addition practice. Kadin had Lux jump over the rock again and again, repeating the same trick until he could reliably clear it would clipping his paws or otherwise hurting himself. He must have jumped over that rock at least ten times, although it probably felt closer to twenty. Kadin wanted to make sure he could do it, though, so he kept practicing until they were both satisfied with his progress.
Jump over: 6
107
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Post by Jack on Sept 29, 2020 19:34:05 GMT -6
A couple of stones attempt to blend in with the surrounding rock
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:03:18 GMT -6
Kunzite searched all around the tunnel. It could hear the call of gems, but it could not see or find them. Every time it thought it was getting close, it would find that it had been turned around and was chasing the crystal in its own possession. Still, it persisted, not wanting to give up the crystal for anything, not matter what a distraction it was. It couldn't be any worse than all the noise the human and the dog were making.
Now that he was done working on jump over, Kadin figured he had a pretty good idea on how to get Lux to just leap into the air on command. This time, he held the treat right next to the rock, but not over it. Lux stared at the treat, wondering if he should just jump over the rock now to get it out of the way. But instead of giving the same command as before, Kadin said, “Leap!”
Lux! Had no idea what that meant! So instead of trying to figure it out, he jumped over the rock. Kadin shook his head. “Not quite. Leap!” He hoped Lux would get this sooner rather than later and didn’t try to quit out of sheer frustration.
Leap: 1
108
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:03:45 GMT -6
Kunzite paused, frustrated with itself and them, to watch. The human was making a fool of himself, of course, but no more than the puppy was. There was just something about houluh, something... dumb. They didn't seem to have much going on between the ears, no thoughts of their own beyond doing tricks and eating. Kunzite felt superior to that, truth be told. All it craved were gems and stones and crystals, precious ores and the deep, dark places of the earth.
Lux whined and jumped up onto the rock. He sat there, staring at Kadin with big puppy eyes, clearly begging for the treat. “Not there yet, Lux. Leap!” Kadin took a step away from the rock, quickly seeing that his plan was back firing a bit. He was just confusing Lux, after all. Lux jumped off the rock and over to Kadin, jumping up into the air and bouncing on his hind paws to try to get to the treat.
“Hey! Close enough! Good job, Lux!” Kadin said, giving him the treat for his effort. He didn’t quite leap into the air the whole time there, but he did near the beginning, so they were getting closer. They could do this.
Leap: 2
109
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:04:20 GMT -6
...It craved them so much it would abandon rationality along with all hopes of finding them if it only meant it could hold on to the finds that were most dear to it. With great reluctance, Kunzite admitted to itself that it needed to give up the crystal. It would not find anything else until it did and the only thing more unacceptable than giving up the crystal would be not finding any more gems at all.
Kadin held up another treat and held it high above the pup’s head. “Leap!”
Lux barked, standing up on his hind legs and pawing at the air. Nothing for that. “Leap!” Whining, he dropped back down to all four paws and quickly hopped back up, his back paws leaving the ground this time.
“Good, Lux! You’re so close! Good Leap!” Kadin praised him for this progress, giving him the treat for his troubles. Lux wagged his tail madly, pleased to be getting the treat. He didn’t quite get it yet, but he was getting treats! He was close!
“Leap!” Kadin said again, holding another treat up high. Lux stood onto his back legs and bunny hopped around a bit, whining and pawing for the treat.
Leap: 3
110
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:04:58 GMT -6
It slunk over to Kadin, waiting until he had a pause in his training. The human accepted the crystal with a look of awe in his eyes. He even smiled at Kunzite and thanked it for giving it to him. Kunzute slunk back into the shadows, disturbed with the realization that the human might have known that it had had the crystal all along. Impossible! And yet... the look in his eyes said otherwise.
Kadin didn’t seem impressed with this. “Not quite, but close. Leap, Lux!” He encouraged, putting more enthusiasm into his voice.
Lux crouched back down and sprang up, going higher than the other times. THAT certainly got a reaction out of the human! “Good! Well done, Lux, good leap!” Kadin praised, giving him his well deserved treat. They were getting so close now! It was only time for fine tuning to make sure that Lux had the trick down and then they could move on to the next thing.
“Leap!” Kadin held up the treat. Lux stood on his back legs at first, but then seemed to think better of it. He dropped back down and then leapt into the air, yipping in excitement. He knew he'd done well!
Leap: 4
111
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:05:25 GMT -6
Shaking the thought from its head, it redoubled its efforts to find more gems. It was almost laughably easy now that the crystal was with the human and it could dismiss it from its senses. It quickly found a blue gem, glimmering on its own, partly hidden by the shadows and useless rocks, but not so hidden that it wouldn't be able to find it. It was a mining familiar, after all, and it had a way with gems.
“Great! Good Lux! Good leap!” Kadin encouraged, giving him another treat. He was doing so well now! It had been a rocky beginning, but he really seemed to be getting it now.
“Leap!” Lux didn’t hesitate this time. He leapt up into the air, yipping with excitement, bouncing back down to the ground. “Great job!” Kadin praised, giving him another treat for a job well done.
Now, of course, it was time for practice. Kadin had Lux leap again and again and again. He also started having Lux leap more horizontally than vertically, moving his arm to get him to jump for the treat both high and long. He kept him practicing until Lux was leaping with just the command word and then accepting a treat afterwards.
Leap: 5
112
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Post by Jack on Sept 29, 2020 20:06:47 GMT -6
Two purple stones glimmer in the darkness, finding any light they can.
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:09:05 GMT -6
Kunzite swept the blue crystal into its shadows, swirling happily around itself for its find. It really should have given up the crystal sooner. It didn't understand now why it had been so stubborn about it. But, it had been a crystal. Putting the thought from its mind, it returned to seeking out more gems. It quickly located another. Not quite a gem this time, but a precious stone still, it swept it into its shadows, too. Yet another thing that a blind human or other pet would have missed that it had found. A stone, brown and boring, but valuable for those who knew what to look for.
He wanted to make sure he absolutely had it down before they moved onto the next thing. They'd be stacking even more and more tricks onto each other after this, after all, and it was important that Lux had all of the basics down before they moved on. Even still, he had him practice a few more times just to polish up the move until he was satisfied. He drilled him on leaping and even some more jump up and jump over practice, to mix things up. They were really making great progress with all this training!
Leap: 6
113
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:20:55 GMT -6
As it was on its way back to the human, Kunzite sensed more stones around its presence. Not stones that it was carrying, of course, it was too good to make a mistake like that. There was something special about it, though, and as it slunk back into the shadows to try and isolate the location it was surprised to see that it was right new the human and the pup. Who seemed to be finishing up doing... something or other.
Perhaps now was a time for a bit of a break. Kadin was getting tired and, from the way Lux was panting, it looked like the houluh agreed with him. With a sigh, Kadin walked away, going to dig around in his supplies for a water bottle. He hadn't thought ahead enough to bring a bowl, but he did have cups. He filled the cup with water and set it down for Lux to drink out of if he wanted. They were working up quite the sweat down here in the mines! It was a good thing the location was so cool to begin with, otherwise things might be awfully uncomfortable. Kadin walked over to the wall and sat down with his back against it.
114
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:21:12 GMT -6
Something it had no interest in. The familiar wandered over, searching out what it had sensed, and finally came across two gems this time. Both were special, of course, it could tell, but one seemed more special than the other. It might have a... use. Not quite as special as a crystal, but Kunzite still greedily swept it into its shadows. It was becoming fairly over burdened at this point, actually. Best to locate the human and deposit what it had so far.
He sipped on his water while he watched Lux lap from the cup. They would probably move on to some more complicated tricks next. Now that Lux knew so many jumping commands, it only stood to reason that Kadin build on that and do some more complex ones. Maybe jumping over him? It was pretty showy. If he ever wanted Lux to compete in a ring it would probably look good. Jumping through a hoop was a classing, too, he'd have to be sure to do that one as well. Kadin sighed and let his head thunk back against the wall. They'd gotten so much work done but there was still so much left to do. Still, it wouldn't hurt anything to take a quick break before they got back to it.
115 *level up
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Post by Jack on Sept 29, 2020 20:31:06 GMT -6
More purple? And some blue!
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Post by Kadin on Sept 29, 2020 20:42:52 GMT -6
No one had told Kunzite that taking a break meant leaving and then coming back. Grumpy, the familiar begrudgingly followed Kadin into the entrance to the mines. For the countless time. (really, it was only like. The third, maybe fourth time. Kunzite was just dramatic). At this rate they would NEVER get deeper in the mines. It would NEVER find more precious stones. It would NEVER be able to find all of the crystals! And the human! Just! didn't seem to care!
With however many fights down, Kadin figured that now would be a good time to take Chiara aside for some extra one on one training. She had been doing well in the pit so far, but he worried about her being vulnerable with only having one attack. So, it was back to the mines with them! Kadin lead the sarane down into the deep dark, figuring that since they’d done prior training here she’d be comfortable with it. He perhaps did not consider that she might have grown significantly since then and, therefore, not fit as well as she used to.
Oh well. They'd make due well enough, even if he had to compensate for a little extra bulk.
116
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