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Post by Kadin on Oct 6, 2020 16:45:28 GMT -6
They clearly weren’t worth it. They’d just cause trouble and he could be doing something else!
Unluckily (or luckily?) they didn’t seem interested in the fungus. Which left Kadin to pick them up and trying to avoid being bit by mushrooms that were much more animated than any mushroom, ever, had the right to be. Both of them, the one that was more red and the one that was more black, tried to bite at his fingers while he was picking them up. Assholes. But he still gathered them, regardless. Even if he didn’t end up keeping them, he figured that he’d be able to sell them to someone who’d probably care more about evil fungus than he ever would. Whatever.
It WAS kind of funny to watch the human try to pick up the evil fungus. They kept trying to bite at his fingers. After they’d gotten fairly close to almost biting her, she found it amusing to watch him almost get bitten, too. But it seemed as if he worked with too many creatures the did bite to be caught too easily. He was really good at dodging teeth and especially good at dodging fire, at this point. He had a lot of experience.
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Post by Kadin on Oct 6, 2020 16:45:40 GMT -6
Annona yawned, her teeth and maw on full display. Kadin was able to gather up what he needed to gather up, although why he would want to was beyond her. The mushroom things were nothing to sell or study or show interest in. They just were. And what they were was annoying. She couldn’t comprehend why he bothered. She had no concept of money or trade, being, you know. A sarane and all that.
Kadin continued on, sarane following after him. It didn’t take long before something else was following them. Again. Kadin was getting a bit sick of this by now, but at least whatever it was this time didn’t look like it was walking from shadow to shadow, more like… floating. So, less chance that the sarane would be able to find it and eat it. Kadin kept an eye on it, waiting until it finally made an appearance before suddenly turning around and reacting out to grab at it. It was… green. It felt almost like a creature had been stuck between a gas and a liquid. Almost like a slime?
One thing about being of a species that could fly and was one of the strongest around?
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Post by Kadin on Oct 6, 2020 16:45:50 GMT -6
You don’t really learn to look up. Not until you’ve been attacked a couple times, at least. Whatever Kadin was dealing with was serving as a good reason to look up. Keto watched him struggle with yet another weird monster. It was also gross, he didn’t look like he was catching it very well, it kept slipping away!
Annona still didn’t know why he bothered with all of these things! It looked gross and he couldn’t even catch it! What was the point of catching something you didn’t want to fight or eat, anyway? He wasn’t fighting ANY of the things he found, just putting them into a pouch to store for later. It was weird! She didn’t appreciate being ignored in favor of something so useless and weird that he clearly didn’t like anyway.
Kadin frowned down at his hand, which was now slimed. He looked up at the ghoul that was spinning and spinning around his head, probably trying to make him dizzy. Rolling his eyes, he just lifted up his bag to capture the thing inside, not particularly caring what it ended up doing to the contents of his bag. It was mostly other creepy little critters in there, anyway.
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Post by Kadin on Oct 6, 2020 16:46:02 GMT -6
They might even be friends. They could deal with whatever the fuck the ghoul was trying to accomplish by circling him. At least it seemed as if it couldn’t escape once he’d zipped up his back with it inside.
Keto hissed at the thing that had been flying up around their heads that Kadin had been dealing with, not appreciating how it was messing with them! Didn’t it know that they were sarane and it was a bad idea to mess with sarane? If only it would come down here, then she’d teach it a real lesson. She hissed and growled and generally carried on, making a show of her displeasure that no one cared about.
Especially not Annona. She just hissed back at Chiara, a bit annoyed at all of the noise she was making. It was useless and annoying, too, and would probably only attract more of those useless and annoying things that Kadin would get distracted with. She almost wished that he’d focus on them again and teach them something instead of wandering after all the random weird stuff he kept finding.
The next discovery was not nearly as exciting as all the others. Although, the others had been more annoying than exciting.
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Post by Kadin on Oct 6, 2020 16:46:15 GMT -6
Kadin and his company continued on their walk, eventually coming across what seemed to be almost a shrine. There were candles arranged around too bottles, both seemingly empty, until Kadin picked them up and there was something moving inside. Once again, he was reminded of his shadows. There was definitely something shadow moving around IN there, although what? He couldn’t really say. Honestly? He was just grateful that whatever it was was inside the bottles instead of floating around his head. Not thinking of anything better to do, he added them to all the rest.
These the sarane probably cared less about than all the others. They were just things in bottles! You couldn't eat those. What's more, they looked like something you wouldn't be able to eat even if they were out of the bottles. Keto hissed and Annona huffed, clearly unimpressed with Kadin's decision to bring them along despite them being useless and not something you could eat. Actually, sarane would probably only consider things that one could eat useful, anyway, so maybe their opinions weren't the most valid out there. Regardless, Kadin wasn't consulting the hatchlings. He had his own plans for what he was doing out here and all that.
45 *level up
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Post by Nadia on Oct 7, 2020 12:49:00 GMT -6
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:56:37 GMT -6
The girls were grown now. And they’d accepted Kadin after they were ‘broken’. Really? Out of all the things in the pit? That certainly wasn’t his favorite. Now that he could get back to training them, however, Kadin figured it’d be in his best interest to work with them one at a time. For one, he wasn’t sure how easily he’d be able to pull them apart if they tried to fight, this time. For another? He just didn’t want to deal with having two full grown, adult sarane in the same place at once. Literally no one could blame him for this. That was also kinda why he’d brought a hatchling with him, too. Let the youngster get some experience by watching an adult. Aconite did NOT appreciate being brought here. You see, he was a young drake with many brothers. Brothers that he did NOT get along with. They were largely kept separate, but the human could only do so much when he was gone during the day. So they still had plenty of opportunities to fight. There was a careful balance of power, one that was ever shifting and moving, based off quiet struggles for dominance when the human was away. 46
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:57:47 GMT -6
Kadin carried out one of Coyle’s kids, ignoring the hissing and sputtering coming from the little devil, as he led Annona back onto the haunted grounds of the mansion. Once there, he promptly placed (no, he did not drop him… as much as he was tempted to) the little guy on the ground and turned to Annona.
He found her not behind him at all. Completely ignoring him, in fact, to sharpen her claws on the rough bark of some of the dead trees nearby. Kadin stared for a moment, not really believing his luck. Well. No time like the present.
“Good rend!” He shouted, trotting over to Annona and offering her a hunk of meat that would serve as her treats. “Good girl, Annona, good rend.” He hoped she’d get it soon.
Every day who was on top shifted and changed. Every day the balance of power moved from one drake to another, never staying with only one of them for too long. Being one of the oldest and well bred, Aconite enjoyed plenty of perks of power that the others had to struggle against. He was easily within the top of the top every day, so long as he kept meeting challenges head on.
Rend: 1
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:58:00 GMT -6
Annona accepted the treat, although she shot a look to Kadin, puzzled at his sudden attention. After his quick interruption, however, he didn’t say much and just stood there, watching her. She growled, low in her throat, and turned back to the tree to continue sharpening her claws.
“Rend! Good girl, Good Rend, Annona!” Kadin encouraged, interrupting her once again to give her a treat. Once again, Annona accepted it, puzzled. They hadn’t really done much training beyond the human teaching her a word that meant she needed to pay attention. He kept saying that word now, too, but it wasn’t what he was trying to catch her attention with. He was trying to get something else across, but she didn’t really care.
Being here today was NOT allowing him to meet his challenges. He hissed and sputtered, vocalizing his displeasure as the human had carried him through the grounds and dropped him off. The indignity of it all! He needed to be back in the kennels, fighting with his brothers and reminding them that he was in charge! At this rate, with how long he'd been away, he was likely to be at the bottom of the barrel by the time he returned!
Rend: 2
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:58:12 GMT -6
She growled and shook her head, displeased that he was being so annoying, and turned back to the tree to, once more, try to sharpen her claws.
“Rend! Good girl, Annona! Good Rend!” And, predictably, he interrupted her with another treat. Now Annona was getting suspicious. She accepted the treat and then stared at the human, eyes narrowed. She raised a paw and held it against the tree. Nothing. Then she sunk her nails in, tearing through the bark. Testing to see.
“Rend! Good rend, Annona.” Kadin praised her and gave her another treat. Ah. There it was. Now that she knew to look out for it, it was pretty predictable. He kept saying the same word, too. This repeated for a while longer than she would have liked.
He brothers would have all forgotten their places and his! There would be anarchy! But the human did not care for his troubles. He was cold and unfeeling, worried more for the strength of a hen than a future champion he was scorning! He was too busy with a hen, one that Aconite had seen before and recognized. She was not related to him, he knew that much, but she was older than him.
Rend: 3
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:58:26 GMT -6
She tried to sharpen her claws, the human would interrupt by giving her a treat. It continued on for a long while. Eventually, he started saying the word the moment her claws met the bark. He’d only give her a treat if she actually tore her claws into it, however. Then, he started saying the word just before she touched the bark. Even when she decided that this tree was spent and went to another one, he still followed along, saying the word when she looked like she even might decide to claw into the tree. And, continually, she’d only get the treat when that was exactly what she did.
After much longer than strictly necessary to get her used to a simple word, Kadin finally seemed to decide to do something different.
That made her a threat since he couldn't dominate her, not while he was still too young. So once the human was only with the hen, Aconite had to back off, still hissing his displeasure, but forced to stew on his own lack of ability to do anything about it. He didn't like being here, away from everything that he knew, forced to sit and watch a human play with a hen, of all things.
Rend: 4
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:58:39 GMT -6
He left her side and walked over to another tree, one right next where she was, really. He pointed at this new tree and said, “Rend” hopefully, as if there was any chance she didn’t recognize the word after how long he’d said it in her ear by now.
Just to make him sweat, she turned her head away from where he was standing and dug her claws into the tree in front of her, pleased to finally get a chance to do so without him interrupting her every second.
“Good girl. Annona.” She huffed and glanced over to him, a bored expression on her face. She enjoyed the treats, but that was about it. He pointed to the tree he was still standing next to and said, “Rend!”
Granted, she was a large and powerful hen. He was sure that she enjoyed a high ranking of her own amongst creatures of her kind. But the fact of the matter remained that she was not a drake, therefore she wasn't as important as he was. And since she wasn't a drake and wasn't as important, it was baffling why the human was spending so much time with her right now when Aconite was right. Here.
Rend: 5
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:58:50 GMT -6
Huffed out another breath, Annona dropped to all four and padded over to the tree he was standing by. She looked to it and back to him, her expression making her thoughts clear. Still, just in case she misunderstood, the human nodded and said, “Rend!”
With one more huff, just so he really understood how frustrating this whole process was, she reared up onto her back legs and dug her nails into the rough bark, drawing deep grooves into the surface with gusto. He let her at it for a while, which she appreciated, before finally saying, “Good rend! Good girl, Annona.”
She received and extra large treat this time, which she also appreciated, and wolfed down. Then they started practicing this new order of command, just like before. Repetition, after all, was the way to remember things.
Eventually, he grew bored of his silent fuming that wasn't getting him any attention, anyway. Not that he wanted attention from the human. Quite the opposite. He WANTED to be left to his own devices! So with a huff, he turned and started to wander off, determined to find something to entertain himself and maybe even get stronger so he could take back his status from his siblings by force.
Rend: 6
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:59:22 GMT -6
Kadin would point out a new tree, called out for her to “Rend”, and she’d rake her nails down the tree with a relish. They continued this for a while, until most of the trees in this part of the yard looked as if, well. A sarane had been set loose on them. Kadin kept encouraging her to rend deeper and harder, too, shredding some trees past the bark and into the heart of the wood. Her claws were quite sharp by the time they were done, after so much digging into the dark wood.
“Great job, Annona.” Kadin praised, surveying their handiwork. After so much practice, he was confident she’d be able to do something similar in a fight. They’d repeated it so much she could do it in her sleep. Now was time for the next thing.
He quickly learned that this place was nothing like the kennels. Other than the trees, there were leaves all over the place. A chill wind was constantly blowing through, but only when you forgot it was there so that it could creep up your spine. Creaking and groaning happened from the places where you least expected them, making him constantly on guard. Yeah. This was NOTHING like the kennels.
Rend: 7
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Post by Kadin on Oct 9, 2020 20:59:40 GMT -6
Kadin looked around for some appropriate objects for this next bout of training. Annona knew how to attack, but she also needed to know how to avoid dangers. Kadin gathered up a small pile of sticks, stones, and other objects that he’d be able to check at his sarane. For some reason? This training always amused him. There were no command words, this time, just pure instinct.
“Annona!” Kadin called, getting her attention. He slowly tossed a rock towards her tail, using an underhand throw that she could easily avoid. She hissed at him for it, but still flicked her tail out of the way. “Good! Good girl, Annona!” She was going well!
He didn’t like this. There was a noise coming from somewhere in front of him behind a door he couldn’t see and he didn’t like this! Whining (and he would not admit that he’d been whining to his dying day) he backed up, looking around fearfully for whatever it was making all of those scary sounds! Of course, this meant that he wasn’t looking where he was going, so when he stumbled over a toy haunted house he was taken completely by surprise.
Danger Sense: 1
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