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Post by Kadin on Oct 4, 2020 18:17:27 GMT -6
The equillion soon started to make quick worth of the vines and other weeds. The Skutirut slowly settled down further in the soil, feeling comfortable enough to resume absorbing nutrients for photosynthesis. The equillion was staying far away and eliminating further competition for it, the least it could do was take advantage of this chance to grow and gather strength.
Velkar rolled her entire head to give the impression of rolling her eyes, but she did try again. This time she gave a more calculated flick of her wings. While the spray was still rather wide, at least most of it landed on the right plants this time instead of everything and anything nearby.
"Hey, nice job!" Kadin tried some more positive reinforcement with more praise and treats. Velkar pinned her ears back at him, but she still accepted the treats, so he wasn't too intimidated by it. "Come on, give it another try. Goop!"
I know the word.
She hissed, suddenly angry, for some reason. Kadin frowned at that, but he didn't feel threatened, for some reason or another, even with her show of temper. For some reason he had a feeling that she'd never hurt him. It was a strange thought.
Smoldering goop: 6
15
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Post by Kadin on Oct 4, 2020 18:20:32 GMT -6
It listened to the alarms of many weeds as the human had the equillion work through the overgrown mass of plants. Even the small stumps of the cut down trees burned, making way for more space. It could almost imagine now all the plants it knew taking this space, making it their own, and outcompeting anything that tried to take it back from them.
No matter how pissed off she seemed at him, for reasons he couldn't begin to understand. "Hey, don't be like that. You need to be more familiar with the command, especially out loud. What if we're caught without the ribbons some day and I need you to attack something?"
That was more likely than it was not, to be honest. He went without any ribbons MOST days. Velkar's ear's remained pinned back, but she also didn't retort, choosing instead to flick her wing again at the patch of ivy. Her aim was becoming more accurate every time she tried, as long as she was trying.
"Good!" Kadin encouraged, tossing her another treat. "Give it another shot, let's make sure we have this down. Goop!"
Again, she flicked her wings at the ivy. She was definitely getting better at this.
Smoldering goop: 7
16
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Post by Kadin on Oct 4, 2020 18:20:53 GMT -6
Luckily they seemed to be avoiding the plants it was befriending. Old trees, bushing that produced fruit the human would want, they were spared from the chemical weeding they were performing. This was certainly one way to work on a garden. The Skutirut had to be settled with the knowledge that it was all for it and the other plants it was connected with.
They kept practicing the same repetitive thing until she could accurately hit individual plants without getting too much splatter on what she wasn't targeting. After that, Kadin had her also practice by attacking from greater distances to see how far she could be accurate with it. It was an awkward way to hold her wings for so long, that was for sure, but the more they practiced the more she improved. Her limit seemed to be able ten feet, which, honestly? Was pretty fucking good, considering she was flapping her wings at something to get the goop at it.
"I think that should be enough." Kadin commented as the sun sank in the sky. He studied it for a moment before turning to Velkar. "Let's go home? You did well today."
Velkar regarded him silently for a long moment. Finally, she shook out her flaming mane, turned, and walked away, back in the direction of the kennels. Apparently she was done with him for today.
[Velkar leaves the thread]
Smoldering goop: 8
17 *added to levels
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Post by Nadia on Oct 7, 2020 12:15:14 GMT -6
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Post by Kadin on Oct 24, 2020 22:52:53 GMT -6
They were back and better than ever! Hah. Only not really. Kadin had returned to the gardens and this time he was here with a houluh instead of an equillion for weed control. They'd made pretty good progress last time, actually, in getting rid of all the vegetation that he didn't want here. Today they were here for more training instead, really, but the training he wanted to do could be accomplished pretty easily using some of the garden stakes that had been set up. Kadin lead Lux over to them and pointed them out to him, letting him get used to them first before asking anything of him. "Weave." He said as he started he started leading Lux through them.
The Skutirut saw the human was back in the gardens. It had brought a houluh with it this time. It didn't quite know what to make about that. Houluh liked to dig and they tended to dig up plants. No plant particularly liked to be uprooted, it included, even though it could uproot whenever it wanted to and nothing really bad happened when it did. Still, it was the principal of the thing! Uprooting was a choice!
Weave: 1
18
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Post by Kadin on Oct 24, 2020 22:53:36 GMT -6
He was walking him through the poles back and forth and back and forth, weaving through him. He praised Lux at the end of it all, giving him a treat just for walking with him, which was nice. "Weave!" He also kept saying, to start to get Lux used to the word, too.
Then Kadin lead him through it again. Using a treat, he lead Lux through the poles, weaving him through each one. "Weave!" He encouraged. They walked through again, Kadin praising him and giving him a treat every time they successfully got through another part of the poles. Once they hit the end, he simply walked back and had him go through yet again, saying "Weave!".
Even though the houluh couldn't melt things, it would probably keep a fair distance from it anyway, just to be on the safe side. It was better safe than not, after all, especially when there were strangers in the garden. It did not trust a lot of strangers in the garden. And with all the plants that needed more encouragement to start growing again, being uprooted would not be the way to encourage them to come back. It had been in communication.
Weave: 2
19
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Post by Kadin on Oct 24, 2020 22:58:57 GMT -6
And he was wanting to be sure Lux was used to the motion before he did anything more impactful than just this. He kept leading him through, again and again, several more times in order to make sure that Lux was getting the point. Each time he kept telling Lux, "Weave!" to make sure he was getting used to the command word, too.
After repeating this for a while, Kadin figured it was time to try to get Lux to do it on his own. "Weave!" He told him, leading him through the first few poles with a treat before simply walking alongside the poles, still encouraging Lux to go through. The houluh was confused, at first, but Kadin would point him in the right direction with a treat, so he started to pick it up.
It wandered around, looking for something to do while the human was working with the houluh. It had already spoken to many of the plants today and had spent an awful lot of time photosynthesizing. It was likely time for it to start looking for a spot to claim for its own, at least for now. It was important to have a spot that was nutrient rich.
Weave: 3
20 *Level up
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Post by Nadia on Oct 25, 2020 12:37:53 GMT -6
Ruby red bounty ahoy.
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Post by Kadin on Oct 25, 2020 15:12:50 GMT -6
Kadin repeated this process several more times, having Lux weave through the poles without him leading the way. He stumbled through it more than a few times and tried to skip poles, but Kadin rewarded him every time he went through a pole correctly, so he started to pick it up. Kadin was mostly leading him through with a treat, although not leading him through directly, but only really directing him through the poles.
As Lux became more comfortable with it, he was better able to go through the poles on his own. Kadin kept encouraging him to weave through the poles with less and less direction from himself, praising him heavily every time he did it correctly.
There were plenty of places to choose from in the gardens, which was a good thing. It needed to search out the perfect spots for itself and any of the other creatures that would want to join it. It would want one of the best spots, of course, so that it would be able to create plenty of nutrient rich substances for later on. What was the point of being a photosynthesizer if you didn’t contribute to a good amount of stored nutrients?
Weave: 4
21
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Post by Kadin on Oct 25, 2020 15:13:25 GMT -6
Now it was time to get him to go faster. In order to actually do well in weaving in an actual competition, it was important that Lux weave through the poles quickly enough that it didn’t effect his time in the event. Kadin quickly worked on improving Lux’s speed. He started by walking alongside him while he went through the poles, encouraging him to go through as quickly as possible.
He started to pick up his own pace while he walked alongside, moving at a slow walk, then a faster walk, then picking up into a jog. Lux watched as he fell behind Kadin along the poles and this started to encourage him to go faster in order to keep up!
Luckily, with so many of the weeds burned away, it had more than a few options to choose from. Many of the choice places had been fertilized by the dying weeds even further. Although they had sapped the soil quite a lot, as weeds tended to do. It was amazing how they were able to take root in the poorest of soil, get strong, and then start taking over literally everywhere in the garden. It was a bit terrifying.
Weave: 5
22
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Post by Kadin on Oct 25, 2020 15:16:31 GMT -6
After a lot of repetition, Lux was finally able to go through all of the poles on his own without Kadin having to guide him! He was doing really well!
Lux went though the poles as fast as he could, wanting to stay by Kadin’s side! As Lux picked up speed, Kadin started to give him more and more treats to encourage him! They kept practicing until Lux could do it well without any hesitation each time. Kadin kept him practicing a bit longer after that, even, just to make sure that he had it down. Eventually he was able to go through fast enough to satisfy them both and they could call it a day on that trick.
But most of the weeds were gone now, except for… ew! There were some regrowing already! Of course the equillion couldn’t have gotten them all, but it would need to be sure to point out these areas to the human later. It was his responsibility to take care of this problem and keep the gardens safe! Sure, some weeds were useful, but too many like this and it would become overrun! They couldn't have that happening to this garden. Not on its watch.
Weave: 6
23
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Post by Kadin on Oct 25, 2020 15:25:47 GMT -6
Next up, Kadin figured he better teach Lux another move that involved weaving. This one was a bit more like dancing, really, and didn't involve trying to weave through poles as fast as possible. Kadin called Lux over and tried to direct him, instead, to weave through his legs.
This was probably going to go hilariously.
Kadin stood there, awkwardly standing with his legs apart. He tempted Lux over with a treat and told him, "Through." Lux, of course, had no idea what he meant. Yet. Kadin directed the houluh with a treat, holding it out and leading him through his legs with it. Lux stopped before he actually went through the human's legs, looking up at him in utmost confusion.
It circled around the weeds, angry that they were there on principal. Really! What right did they think they had to grow on claimed land? It wanted to get rid of them itself, but humans had things like shovels and hands and thumbs to remove plants they didn't want. It only had its legs and leaves. It wouldn't be able to do any real damage to the weeds, not without risking damage to itself, especially considering how strong weeds' roots usually were.
Weave Legs: 1
24
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Post by Kadin on Oct 25, 2020 15:26:19 GMT -6
Kadin looked back, probably also feeling utter confusion at what he was trying to accomplish today. Look, already, this felt really awkward right now, but surely it would be a cool trick to know later, right? Right?
Anyway. Kadin tried again. He held a treat out to Lux and, once he had his interest, tried to direct him to walk through his legs. This time, the houluh still hesitated, but he crouched down and crawled through his legs as if he needed to be on his belly to make it through. That was, uh, an interesting sentiment, considering that Kadin was a perfectly normal sized person and Lux could probably run through his legs while only having to duck a little bit, but at least it was a start.
So instead of being able to do much about them right now, it had to settle for stewing about it. It skittered around the weeds in agitation, but of course they couldn't respond to it since they were just sedentary weeds, so it had to storm off in a huff about it. At least the human would be able to take care of them later, after it was done dealing with all this houluh nonsense.
Weave Legs: 2
25 *level up
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Post by Nadia on Oct 25, 2020 15:29:58 GMT -6
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Post by Kadin on Oct 27, 2020 13:17:29 GMT -6
Perhaps instead of going around and getting annoyed by weeds it could do something more productive while it waited. The Skutirut shook its little legs at the weeds a bit before skuttling off to look for something else to do. What had it wanted? A place to have as a home base to photosynthesis. It needed nutrient rick soil to do that best! And the soil needed to be loose, too, and not too packed down.
Kadin praised Lux for it regardless. “Through!” He said, to help teach him the word. Now it was time to try again. He held out a treat for Lux and lead him though his legs once more, saying “Through!” and getting him to go through his legs. Lux, once more, showed extreme cautions in all of this. For some reason, he seemed under the impression that he was going to get caught on something while going through Kadin’s legs. He was a bit baffled by the whole thing, considering that the houluh hadn’t had any trouble with the weave poles, but there was nothing for it other than to keep practicing until Lux was confident with what he was doing, right? “Though!” Kadin encouraged again.
Weave Legs: 3
26
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