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Post by Emery on Jun 13, 2024 10:44:30 GMT -6
Off the top of Emery's head, she was pretty sure she needed to teach Pyrrhos 'Come'. There were plenty of times when she needed him to move one way or another- either to get him out of someone's way so they didn't have to touch him, or to keep him from setting something on fire. Unfortunately, he was a difficult creature to move, as Emery couldn't physically do anything about it without burning herself. She had heat resistant gloves on right now to take the brunt of it, but extended contact would still hurt. So she needed him to know more commands that would help to shift him around a bit when needed. Come was certainly the easiest- more complicated versions could come later. "Are you ready then, Pyrrhos?" She asked rhetorically, looking at her pet. He peered back up to her with wide eyes that lacked understanding- for now.
Emery 6 Pyrrhos 19.1/19.1 Come 1
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Post by Emery on Jun 13, 2024 10:48:35 GMT -6
Emery rustled around in her pocket and pulled out the perfect treat for him- a dried out leaf. It was perfect- the kind that would crunch beautifully under your foot if you stepped on it during the autumn. Pyrrhos on the other hand adored them for how they burnt. Elemental golems like him didn't really "eat" in a traditional sense, but to say he had a passion for setting things on fire was an understatement. She held the leaf at around the height of her hips (which was the same height Pyrrhos was) and watched as he grew more interested, turning towards her and tilting his head. "Pyrrhos, come." She said, and waggled the leaf in a way she hoped was enticing. Sure enough, the elemental golem began walking towards her, lifting one legless leg after the other, stepping carefully across the concrete ground towards the treat he wanted ever so badly.
Emery 7 Pyrrhos 19.2/19.2 Come 2
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Post by Emery on Jun 13, 2024 10:50:54 GMT -6
When he reached her she held the leaf above his head and released it, letting it flutter into his flames. It danced around for a moment, immediately singing along the edges until it caught fire entirely, bursting in a brief puff of flame before collapsing into ash. The ash simply descended down through Pyrrhos's semi-tangible form, landing on the concrete beneath him. "Good come, Pyrrhos." Emery said, pleased with him. As he stomped on the ashes, trying to get any more entertainment out of the leaf, Emery took several steps back, placing herself further away from him than before. "Okay Pyrrhos- come!" She said, turning up her volume to repeat the trick. She held out another leaf. She could see him sway his head back and forth, trying to get a better look at her. WAS she holding a leaf? He couldn't really tell... but apparently decided it was likely enough to be worth checking.
Emery 8 Pyrrhos 19.3/19.3 Come 3
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Post by Emery on Jun 13, 2024 11:29:41 GMT -6
Once again, he walked after Emery, his eyes focused on what she was holding. Just to keep things vague, Emery put the leaf behind her back. She wanted him to come to her regardless of whether or not she had a treat. After all, she wouldn't always have one on hand when she was, for example, trying to keep him from setting someone's shop on fire. As long as he thought there was the possibility of getting a treat and that made him behave, that was good enough for her. Sure enough, even though he couldn't see the leaf anymore, he was still doggedly approaching her in his slow, staggering sort of way. When Pyrrhos reached Emery he gazed up at her with those eyes like little lumps of coal. "...Good come, Pyrrhos." She said, and pulled out the leaf, offering it to him. It was immediately sucked out of her hand and incinerated, just like the first.
Emery 9 Pyrrhos 19.4/19.4 Come 4
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Post by Emery on Jun 13, 2024 11:34:52 GMT -6
While Pyrrhos was busy burning his latest leaf, Emery retreated even further away. There was no chance of him seeing a leaf on her person now, and she didn't even get one out. Instead she stood there with her hands on her hips, making it obvious she wasn't holding anything. "Pyrrhos, come!" She said. For a few agonizing moments the fire elemental golem just stared at her, and Emery couldn't be sure there was anything but elevator music being transmitted behind his eyes. But then he stuttered to life, walking towards her just like before. It wasn't very fast but it was steady, and after a minute or so he met Emery at the other side of the concrete bowl they were stood in. "Good job, Pyrrhos." She said. She didn't bother petting him- they both knew it would hurt- but she hoped her praise got through to him regardless.
Emery 10 Pyrrhos 20.0/20.0 Come 5
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Post by Emery on Jun 14, 2024 9:24:25 GMT -6
The next thing she had in mind was a little more complicated. Like all elemental golems, Pyrrhos was literally made of his element. Fire, in his case. And yet, he was still alive and thus tended to hold himself together. Emery wasn't sure what that solid core was- a wave of pressure? A bundle of unburnable material, suspended in midair by the force of his flames? She wasn't sure, but she did know that (provided you were wearing VERY fireproof gloves) you could only press your hand so far into him before you were forced to stop, just as you could reach into any other creature's fluffy fur and eventually reach their body. His core was vaguely shaped and somewhat squishy, but still there, if invisible. And yet, Emery knew that if he really wanted to he could dissipate it, losing a lot of his structure and moving in a more liquidlike fashion.
Emery 1 Pyrrhos 20.1/20.1 Intangible Body 1
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Post by Emery on Jun 15, 2024 8:30:14 GMT -6
She had seen him do it sometimes in the heat of his emotions, and from her research she knew that this intangible state was normal for fire golems. But as of right now he used it basically randomly, whenever he felt like it... or whenever his feelings got away from him, what little he had. Emery wanted him to be able to do it on command, allowing him to pass through solid objects as freely as he pleased. This was more easily said than done. While she knew it was something he could do in theory, teaching him how to do it and teaching him how to do it on COMMAND were horses of entirely different colors. Still, she was confident that his natural instincts would kick in at some point and have him do it on accident. After that, all she had to do was take advantage of it and encourage it.
Emery 2 Pyrrhos 20.2/20.2 Intangible Body 2
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Post by Emery on Jun 15, 2024 8:49:05 GMT -6
Once she got him going, it theoretically wouldn't be difficult to turn it into a "trick" he could do. For any of that to happen however she needed to get set up. Emery pulled something out of her travel bag. At first it looked like a mess of haphazardly placed metal bars. She had practiced with it some at home however, and she began tugging at the various bars in a particular order. Soon the whole structure began to unfold, revealing itself to be a kennel cage. It was a medium sized one, the kind you'd keep a houluh in for bedtime. It was made of metal and thus fireproof, so Pyrrhos couldn't just light it up, and the gaps between the bars were far too small for him to just slip between them. And yet, it would be easy for him if he could just lose all solid form...
Emery 3 Pyrrhos 20.3/20.3 Intangible Body 3
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 13:34:55 GMT -6
It took her a few minutes to corral him, especially considering that even with the gloves on Emery could only hold Pyrrhos for a few moments. But soon he was inside the cage, peering out at her with his buttonlike eyes. Once he was there, it was just a matter of getting him to move towards her. "Pyrrhos, come." She said. Sure enough, the elemental golem began to move, beckoned forward by words that he already knew. But, they weren't enough. Soon he found himself bumping into the front of the cage, stopped by the bars. He stopped and stared at them vacantly for a moment before looking at Emery and sitting down. In his mind, small as it was, he had completed the task as he could move no further. But, Emery needed him to push himself a bit harder than that. "Pyrrhos, come." She repeated, hoping to goad him forward once more.
Emery 4 Pyrrhos 20.4/20.4 Intangible Body 4
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 13:38:28 GMT -6
He stood up again, but once again found himself stymied by the bars. She couldn't get him to simply walk through them... but perhaps she could offer him something he'd want enough that he'd forget they existed. Emery turned around and grabbed something that she had set behind her bag. It was a perfectly crunchy leaf. It had fallen from a maple tree and had been dried out perfectly by the vicious heat of summer, mummified into something that would go up in smoke the moment flame was applied to it. It was the most luxurious treat imaginable for something like Pyrrhos, and she watched as he instantly rose to his feet again, his eyes trained on it. "Pyrrhos, come." She said, offering the leaf to him. She waggled it just a few tantalizing inches outside of the cage, just out of reach of the flames licking between the bars.
Emery 5 Pyrrhos 21.0/21.0 Intangible Body 5
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 13:59:45 GMT -6
She watched as Pyrrhos pressed himself further and harder against the bars, pushing himself to the limit as Emery kept the leaf just out of his grasp. His fluid body pressed against the gaps in the bars, and finally... pushed through. His eyes went first, popping out of the gaps and caught by his flames once more, and the rest pressed after it, initially cut apart by the bars but reforming quickly on the other side. It looked like it took him a lot of effort, but finally he was able to pull his feet through as well, one after the other. As he approached the leaf, Emery let him have it, letting go as flames licked along its edges. "Good flow, Pyrrhos." She said, setting up a command word that hopefully he would get the hang of soon. She gave him a moment to destroy the leaf, watching as it turned to ash.
Emery 6 Pyrrhos 21.1/21.1 Intangible Body 6
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 14:03:25 GMT -6
Then, she pulled out another one. Pyrrhos looked up at her expectantly, his little black eyes pleading at her, but instead she placed it right back in the cage he had just crawled his way out of and closed the door on it. Then, she pointed at the cage. "Pyrrhos, flow." She said, giving him the command. He looked at her, and then at the leaf. Knowing what he wanted, the fire golem pressed himself against the bars, trying to make... whatever it was he did before happen again. She had to give him the command a few times as he tried to get it to work. Emery couldn't give him much help on that end- it wasn't like she could make her body turn intangible. Finally however, he seemed to figure it out- and this time much more quickly, as he flowed between the bars of the cage a lot more like water than jello.
Emery 7 Pyrrhos 21.2/21.2 Intangible Body 7
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 14:06:38 GMT -6
He wasted no time in incinerating the leaf, and Emery wasn't sure he even heard her praise with how... enthusiastic he was about it. "Good flow, Pyrrhos." She offered anyway... and then set another leaf down in front of her once more. "Flow." She commanded, and he wasted little time in this instance. He pressed himself against the bars and this time he seemed to have the right idea on how to make his body cooperate, as he almost effortlessly drained himself out of the cage, reforming his more traditional shape on the other side. Almost effortless of course, as he stumbled a bit on dismount. Still, it was clear to see how much he was improving working on this. "Good flow." Emery said, and offered him the leaf. He had the basic idea down now, and knew how to get his natural abilities to cooperate- now it was time to throw in some variety.
Emery 8 Pyrrhos 21.3/21.3 Intangible Body 8
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 14:13:26 GMT -6
Next, Emery took him to the edge of their little training area- where there was a chain link fence. The gaps were larger, and differently shaped. (Though still luckily non-flammable.) She dropped another leaf outside of the fence, where it fell to the ground about a foot away from them. "Pyrrhos, flow." She said, pointing once again at the leaf. Pyrrhos wasted no time in going after the leaf. The different shape of the fence gave him some pause, as unintelligent as he was, but he soon realized that it wasn't a solid wall- there were still gaps. So he pressed himself against it just like before, and soon was on the other side, claiming the leaf as his. Perfect. Emery beckoned him back into the training area, and prepared the last object she wanted to use to train him- a large glass marble. He needed to not just be able to pass through physical objects- physical objects needed to be able to pass through HIM.
Emery 9 Pyrrhos 21.4/21.4 Intangible Body 9
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Post by Emery on Jul 31, 2024 14:20:36 GMT -6
Pyrrhos looked up at her as Emery gave him the same command as before. "Pyrrhos, flow." He glanced around a moment, looking for anything for him to flow THROUGH, but nothing was immediately obvious. Without any leaves around for him to want to burn either, the fire golem seemed to be at a loss. And yet, Emery saw a distinctive waver to his flames, as if he was losing some solidity. She decided to go for it, and tossed the marble at him. Under normal circumstances it would bounce off of his harder "core" (and probably scare him), but this time it simply dropped right through his body, landing on the ground below. He looked down in surprise, taking a step back. It was like he had laid an egg. "Good flow, Pyrrhos." Emery said in her usual drone. Perfect. This meant that he could now get into smaller spaces- and let his foes' attacks go right through him.
Emery 10 Pyrrhos 22.0/22.0 Intangible Body 10
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