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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:27:01 GMT -6
“Argos, fly.” She said. To her surprise, she didn’t need to give him any other commands this time. It looked like he was starting to get the idea of what it was he needed to be doing here. Increased distance using his wings. He flung himself at Emery, his wings held wide. She noted with pleasure that the wind quickly buffeted up under them, holding him aloft for far longer than if he didn’t have them. Despite that, his heavy weight quickly brought him down to the ground again in front of her. He shook himself off quickly and before Emery could start walking back, he snatched the stone out of her hand. She made a quick noise of protest, but Argos simply turned on his heel and marched back towards the rock pile again, apparently having picked up on what she wanted him to do after each try of this trick.
Emery 6 Argos 16.1/16.1 Fly 6
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:27:18 GMT -6
Emery didn’t waste time, then. If Argos was happy to keep it going- or at least, cooperative with her efforts- then she wouldn’t hesitate to continue his training. She walked even further than before- greater than ten feet away from the rock pile, where he was only six feet above the ground. “Argos, fly!” She said, not even holding up a stone this time. He knew what he needed to do. Sure enough, Argos lined himself up at the edge of the ledge before launching off with all four legs, leaping like a lemur before his wings splayed out, giving him a bit more vertical height for his inevitable descent. Emery noticed that each time he did this, he seemed to take more details into account. How he launched himself off of the rock ledge, the best angle of attack into the wind, how to angle his wings to best catch the air.
Emery 7 Argos 16.2/16.2 Fly 7
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:27:43 GMT -6
He was getting better, and each time he pushed himself off it took him longer to reach the ground. When he reached Emery this time, she gave him an encouraging nod and pressed another delicious stone into his palm. He took it and shoved it in his mouth before retreating to the rock pile once more. “Argos, fly.” She said again once he got to the top. She had her back pressed against the far fence now- she couldn’t get any further away. But by this point, Argos was picking up on what he needed to do here. He pushed himself off again and to Emery’s pleasure he made a few test flaps as he approached her in his glide. He wobbled concerningly as he did so, losing more height than he gained. His eyes narrowed though, and it was clear he was taking that into account, analyzing his own actions.
Emery 8 Argos 16.3/16.3 Fly 8
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:27:59 GMT -6
He took the stone from Emery even faster this time before making his way back, and Emery let him go- he was figuring this out. All she had to do was sit here and watch, and give him some snacks for his trouble. “Argos, fly.” She said again once he climbed up. He pushed himself off. He started flapping right off the bat this time, trying to “catch his balance” in mid air so to speak before he got too close to the ground for it to be safe. Sure enough, he managed to climb a bit in air, awkwardly flapping around the training area. Eventually he skidded to a stop in front of Emery, and she offered him a whole handful of treats. It wasn’t graceful, but it was flying! “Excellent job, Argos.” She said, pride radiating from Emery’s voice. All he had to do now was keep working on it.
Emery 9 Argos 16.4/16.4 Fly 9
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:28:16 GMT -6
Together with Emery, Argos kept on practicing his flight. After that first messy, shaky liftoff he seemed to get the hang of it faster and faster. He kept track of how wind affected his course and lifted his wings, how tilting them slightly forward and back, side to side affected his heading. How even tilting his head changed how air flowed over him. Luckily for Emery, Argos was an incredibly intelligent creature. He didn’t need to rely on instinct or even Emery to guide him in learning this- he could figure it out on his own. Slowly but surely his flight became less shaky and more controlled, even when strong gusts of wind hit him when he got above a dozen feet up. If anything he was using them to his advantage, riding on them to get more height and glide in place. After an hour he seemed to have the hang of it fully- Argos had learned to fly.
Emery 10 Argos 17.0/17.0 Fly 10
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:29:10 GMT -6
Emery wanted to next teach two tricks at the same time, feeling it would be easiest to do them both at once. Luckily they were very easy- she just needed him to hold something in his claws on command, and then drop it when asked. On paper it was very simple, but it had its benefits. When working down in the mines, the pair of them would need to work in tandem. And to be honest- he did more hard work than she did. Her lack of physicality meant that he did most of the mining with Emery simply deciding where they’d dig. So being able to hand off different tools to him or obligating him to drop them was important. It wasn’t really about his actual ability to hold things. He had hands, she knew he could do that. It was about him being able to do it quickly and without question whenever she asked him to.
Emery 1 Argos 17.1/17.1 Hold and Drop 1
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:29:27 GMT -6
She had allowed Argos to rest for a while after teaching him to fly. Runic gargoyles- and gargoyles in general, to be fair- had rather glacial metabolisms and tended to get quite quiet after phases of intense energy. Today was no different, and Argos had curled up into a position that made Emery realize exactly why people used to think that gargoyles were simply mysterious stone sculptures that showed up in the mines sometimes, with months passing before they got up and moved again. Emery had no intention of letting him rest that long however, and after half an hour it was time to get started again. Emery pulled something out of her pocket- a small hacky sack, small enough to be easily held in his hands. “Argos.” She said, trying to get his attention. She shook him awake gently with her free hand. “Come here.” She continued, not accepting no for an answer.
Emery 2 Argos 17.2/17.2 Hold and Drop 2
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:31:23 GMT -6
After a few more minutes of pestering Argos finally got up from his perch, returning to the ground with Emery. Given the simplicity of this trick he’d likely regret getting up, but it was something she needed him to know how to do. He settled down in front of Emery, and she pushed the hacky sack against one of his claws. “Argos, hold.” She said, trying to set up the command word. “Hold.” She repeated, pushing it more insistently. He didn’t seem to want to grip it. She glanced back up- his eyes had closed again. Emery gently patted him on the head. “Argos, wake up. Hold.” She said, more insistently this time. Argos cracked an eye open again, and she pressed the hacky sack into his palm. He looked at it, and then back up at Emery. “Good job, good hold.” Emery said, offering him a treat for it.
Emery 3 Argos 17.3/17.3 Hold and Drop 3
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:31:40 GMT -6
He accepted it, but didn’t seem too thrilled about it, crunching through the soft stone loudly. Excellent. Now to work on the “dropping” part of the trick. “Argos, drop.” Emery said, and reached out to tap on the ball with a finger. He looked down at it, still chewing slowly, but didn’t seem to be getting the idea of what she wanted now. She tapped a bit harder and slowly but surely pushed the hacky sack out of Argos’s hand, letting it plop onto the ground without any effort on his part. A little annoying, but hopefully he’d get the idea soon. “Good drop, Argos.” She said. It wasn’t a good drop at all, but she needed to make sure he knew what the word meant. She gave him another small treat rock, just to drive the point home. He accepted it graciously, pushing it into his mouth with the other one.
Emery 4 Argos 17.4/17.4 Hold and Drop 4
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:31:57 GMT -6
Emery picked up the hacky sack again. That was… terrible, but hopefully he’d get better. Perhaps he was still just tired. “Okay, Argos. Hold.” She said, and pressed it against his claw again. After a bit of a pause he finally accepted it, holding it gently. Emery slowly slipped her hand away and he kept holding it, though he didn’t seem to have much of an idea as to why. That was fine by her though- all she needed was for him not to drop it. She gave it a few moments and it looked like he wasn’t going to drop it on purpose- though it was awfully precariously placed in his palm right now. Still, it was worth rewarding. “Good hold, Argos.” She said, offering him another treat for his progress. He happily accepted it, and soon was ready for the next phase of the trick. “Argos, drop.” She said, and waited a moment.
Emery 5 Argos 18.0/18.0 Hold and Drop 5
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:32:18 GMT -6
After a few seconds, she sighed and reached out to tap it out of his hand again. He perked up as she did so, finally watching the ball as it dropped to the ground. “Good drop, Argos.” She said, a little bored as she handed him another treat. Hopefully he’d get the hang of this soon. He crunched it down as Emery picked up the hacky sack again and to his credit he at least seemed to be paying attention to it now. “Argos, hold.” She said, and held it out to him, her palm flat. He looked at it for a moment, but made no movements. “Hold.” She repeated, but when he didn’t move she sighed and pressed it to his hand again. At least he instantly clutched around it this time, instead of the barely-there grip he was using before. She could consider this properly holding.
Emery 6 Argos 18.1/18.1 Hold and Drop 6
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:32:37 GMT -6
And then the other side of it. “Argos, drop.” She said. He stared at her for a moment, and Emery once again moved to tap it out of his hand. This time however, he pulled his hand away so she couldn’t get at it. He looked between her and the hacky sack, and uncurled his fingers until the sack dropped to the ground. He looked back at Emery for approval, as if asking “was that it?” Emery nodded. “Good drop, Argos.” She said, and pressed another treat into his waiting hand. He nodded to himself and ate the treat, watching Emery through the corner of his eye as she retrieved the hacky sack again. Finally, he seemed to be getting better at this. “Are you ready to try again, Argos?” She asked as he finished swallowing. He gave no indication either way, but she felt it at least polite to ask.
Emery 7 Argos 18.2/18.2 Hold and Drop 7
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:32:55 GMT -6
She held out the sack once more. “Argos, hold.” She said. To her relief, he finally picked it up, rolling it around in his hand for a moment before holding it in a steady grip. She hadn’t been expecting training this trick to be so hard when she first started, but she was glad he was getting the hang of it now. He looked at her, eyeing her carefully for any sign that he was meant to release it. She would allow it. “Argos, drop.” She said, and he quickly did, letting it plop to the ground. Perfect. She handed over a treat to him. Now he knew to hold and drop the hacky sack, though she needed to extend that beyond this single object. After all, she was intending to make it so he’d hold just about anything for her wherever they went, not just this small, light object here and now.
Emery 8 Argos 18.3/18.3 Hold and Drop 8
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:33:18 GMT -6
This time, she handed Argos one of his treats. “Argos, hold.” She said. The runic gargoyle took the soft stone from her, and began to raise it to his mouth. “NO.” Emery said, turning up her volume. He paused, looking at her awkwardly. “Hold.” She said, still on a high volume. She turned it down again as he slowly lowered his hand, waiting for permission. “...Drop.” She said, once she was sure he had held it for long enough. It seemed to pain him in a way, but Argos obeyed, dropping the stone to the ground. “...Good.” Emery said, and looked the other way- an indicator that he was allowed to have it now. He scraped it out of the dirt and shoved it in his mouth- not something that would cause him any harm, as a golem. It could have just added flavor to it for all Emery knew.
Emery 9 Argos 18.4/18.4 Hold and Drop 9
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Post by Emery on May 8, 2024 19:33:42 GMT -6
From there, she went around and had him handle all sorts of objects, making sure that he knew that the command applied no matter what she handed him. It was equally applicable to everything, so long as it was an object he was actually capable of holding. She handed him smaller objects first- sticks, acorns, various rocks. He accepted them with a bit of confusion but ultimately with obedience- exactly what she wanted. From there she moved up to steadily heavier objects. Her bag, a larger rock, a log. This seemed to be a bit more difficult for him physically, but was at least more engaging for the golem. Soon she was sure he had gotten the idea- he held anything she held out for him without even looking at her so long as she gave the command first. Another trick checked off- and one that would no doubt come in handy in the future.
Emery 10 Argos 19.0/19.0 Hold and Drop 10
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