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Post by Nadia on Sept 12, 2020 5:47:30 GMT -6
Ooh, how autumnal.
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 1:44:54 GMT -6
[96]
Though the lola could be hiding anywhere, they did float, and that was their usual, if not only, method of movement. Which meant maybe he was looking in the wrong places, lola probably wouldn't want somewhere too thick with overgrowth, they'd probably want to be in an area they could actually move around in. That had been the opposite of how he'd been looking before, and Nerius changed his focus from thick tangles of foliage, to looking for a clearing.
They were shy, and probably wanted somewhere protected, so he kept hunting through the overgrowth, but instead of digging through every oversized bush or patch of tall grass, kept moving through areas that were too tangled for lola to float through. He found a few promising clearings, but they were empty now, and Nerius had no idea how to tell if lola had been in a place recently. They didn't walk, or eat the plants.
(Nerius: 11/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 1:51:16 GMT -6
[97]
He was at least finding some produce, a large patch of tall grass he'd almost passed by had, on closer inspection, turned out to be wheat. He didn't exactly have the proper tools for it, but it was a small enough patch, probably blown in from someone else's garden, that garden shears worked fine to gather it all.
Still no lola though, and Nerius kept searching. At this point, he was starting to become genuinely concerned that the lola had all floated out of the garden. He'd never seen them go high enough to float over the tall fences, but that didn't mean they couldn't. And, well, Nerius couldn't blame them if they didn't want to hang out in this mess of a garden. But then, wouldn't they have escaped already? He'd seen them recently, if they hated the garden, why hadn't they escaped in all the time he'd owned the plot, or even when it belonged to the previous person?
(Nerius: 12/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 2:03:00 GMT -6
[98]
Nerius kept searching, and for a second he thought he'd spotted one of the lola, catching a glimpse of something stripy and orange peeking out beside a branch. Except, he realized, none of his lola were orange, and a second look revealed it to be a mushroom. Nerius sighed, but picked it anyway. At least all this searching wasn't a total waste of time, he'd wanted to grab what harvests he could anyway. Adding the mushroom to the rest of his harvests, he returned to searching for the elusive critters.
He wasn't sure how much longer the search continued, before he felt... something. It wasn't magic exactly, but it brushed against a similar sense of awareness. It was almost like.. emotions, a feel of curiosity, and wariness. A little confused, and curious himself, Nerius followed the sensation, and after a few seconds, entered a clearing where all four of the lola were floating.
(Nerius: 13/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 23:19:32 GMT -6
[99]
They were watching him, and he could feel an assortment of emotions coming from them, the lighter two showing more curiosity, while the grey and black one kept a bit more distance. It was the opalescent one that drifted toward him first, circling him, and occasionally brushing against his arm. After a few moments, that seemed to encourage the others, and soon all four were floating around Nerius.
He'd forgotten they could do that, not float, but to share emotions. They were also very smart, which meant maybe he could communicate with them? Not with words of course, but maybe emotions and intent? He set the carriers down in a circle around him, not trying to grab or catch, just seeing how they'd respond. Most weren't too interested, but the grey one drifted down to investigate, and he could feel the creature's curiosity. He didn't have much experience with emotional communication, but tried to send the lola a feeling of encouragement.
(Nerius: 14/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 23:32:43 GMT -6
[100]
It seemed to have worked, for the lola further investigated the carrier, poking at it with her nubby little arms, and even slipping in for a moment, before popping back out. Nerius let the lola explore, and did his best to try to communicate with them, wanting to get across the idea of taking them to a nicer home. He tried sending the sense of journey - new - explore - nice, and it got some kind of reaction. The three still circling him moved a little faster, and received a sense of interest - confused - excited in return.
There was four of them, and he wasn't entirely sure which emotions were coming from which lola, but at least some of them were interested. Nerius tried again, gesturing to the garden around them, sending a sense of dreary - unpleasant - ick. That they did seem to understand, and he received a feel of agreement - uncomfortable - sad in return.
(Nerius: 15/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 23:40:49 GMT -6
[101]
While it wasn't nice to hear that they hadn't been very happy in this garden, at least it meant they'd probably be willing to relocate. He tried sending a feel of new - nice - travel, and this time received mostly excitement - curiously in return. Nerius wasn't sure if he had done better in communicating than his first attempt, or if they were just more interested now, but either way, it was a good sign.
Now he just needed to get them into the carriers. He picked up one of the carriers not currently being explored, and held it up where the other lola could investigate. They were a little interested, but mostly confused, and probably weren't going to just float in. He sent over a sense of apology - safe - necessary, and though they didn't really seem to understand that he'd want them to go in the carriers, they at least weren't afraid of it.
(Nerius: 16/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 23:50:24 GMT -6
[102]
Slowly and carefully, Nerius scooped up the blue and white lola with the carrier, but left it open, not trying to actually capture the lola. He received a sense of confusion from his efforts, and responded with a feel of reassurance - safe - travel - new. That apparently satisfied the lola, and the creature didn't protest even as he latched the carrier.
It was nice, but a little odd that they trusted him like this. Maybe they were just naive, having little experience outside the garden, or more likely their empathic abilities meant they could sense what he was feeling, and could tell he didn't mean them harm, or have any ulterior motives. He genuinely did just want to move them to a nicer home. Whatever the case, the other two floating around him were agreeable to being gently scooped into carriers, and the grey one that had been first investigating a carrier even drifted in on her own.
(Nerius: 17/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 13, 2020 23:56:19 GMT -6
[103]
Once all the lola were inside, and the carriers securely latched, Nerius picked them up, carrying them back to the front gate where the rest of the critters were. That was almost everything, but he'd left the most difficult one for last. Somehow, he was going to need to get the lotine out of the pool and into a large travel crate. He'd done it before, when he'd taken here to the breeding center, but it had required a lot of bribes, and hadn't been easy.
Moving the crate wouldn't be easy either, it was much heavier than the small plastic carriers. He delayed the inevitable by double checking the filled carriers and crates, everything was latched and looked fine... which meant he needed to start dragging that awful crate over to the pond. The less he had to coax the lotine out of the water the better, but it was going to be a pain to get there.
(Nerius: 18/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 0:01:26 GMT -6
[104]
It was just as bad to drag as he'd expected, and would be even worse once filled with a lotine, but at least he'd hired transportation for the next part. Nerius didn't own a way to move that many pets at once, and had hired a transportation service to move the critters, which also potentially included having them load the carriers and crates. Nerius had decided to round up his pets himself though, as most of them were at least somewhat familiar with him, and it would be less stressful on them if he was the one to do it, rather than a stranger.
It had meant a lot more work for him though, he'd spent most the day in the garden, and it was late afternoon by now. Hopefully he'd be able to finish up in one day, but that all depended on how cooperative Kasuna was going to be.
(Nerius: 19/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 0:07:00 GMT -6
[105]
It took him a bit of time, but eventually Nerius managed to lug the crate over to the pond. The lotine was nowhere in sight, most likely hiding under the water, and Nerius wasn't sure how he was going to get her to come out. But, maybe he didn't have to. The crate was water resistant, and he could put it in the pond, and try to lure Kasuna in without having her leave the water.
That was probably his best bet, and after finding a somewhat clear path to the water, probably where the lotine slid in and out, Nerius pushed the crate into the water, until it was fully submerged. The splash had probably scared her off, but the pond wasn't that big, and she wasn't likely to leave the water if frightened. Now for the reason he'd waited on the lotine, in order to lure her into the crate, he'd have to actually get in the water.
(Nerius: 20/20 +Added!)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 4:29:57 GMT -6
[106]
He took off his shoes and socks first, though he really wasn't looking forward to wading into the pond with bare feet, it was better than soaked footwear. Nerius stepped into the water with a grimace, the bottom was just as squelchy and icy as he was expecting. He could feel the mud in his toes, and.. roots? He hoped it was just roots, tangling around his ankles. And this was just the shallow part, at the deepest point the water came up to just below his chest. He could stand up, and wasn't really intending on diving in, but had brought his amulet just in case.
He had also brought fish as a potential bribe, they weren't the fancy, nutrient rich ones used for breeding lotine, but they should still be good enough for Kasuna to want. Assuming, of course, she hadn't been completely freaked out by all the activity in the garden and around her pond.
(Nerius: 1/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 4:35:08 GMT -6
[107]
Now, where exactly was the lotine? The water wasn't the most clear, and he'd rather avoid sticking his head under it if possible, which meant he really couldn't see Kasuna. Nerius was sure she was in the water though, and took out one of the fish from the bucket he'd carried them in, and released it into the pond. It was still alive, if not in the best condition, and after a moment, swam awkwardly away from him.
He didn't try to stop the fish, letting it dart off wherever it wanted, then waited. After a while, there was a sudden movement in the water, and a hint of lotine was briefly visible above the water. She'd gone for the fish, and now Nerius had some idea of where the lotine was. She'd surfaced a few yards away, and now that he had an idea where she was, could see a lotine shaped shadow under the water.
(Nerius: 2/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 4:39:49 GMT -6
[108]
Nerius released another fish into the water, otherwise keeping still. It swam away from him as unsteadily as the last one, and there was a much closer splash as Kasuna captured that one as well. He could actually see the lotine now, though not clearly, and if he had to guess, she didn't seem scared of him, but rather confused as to why he was in her pond.
He wasn't sure if that would change when he moved, which he did, sloshing back over to the sunken carrier. He'd pushed it into the middle depth, where the water came up to his waist. That was still deeper than he would rather had been, but he'd gone into this expecting to have to get wet. Choosing one of the less energetic fish, he released it into the water in front of the open crate. It sort of flopped there a little, but was too stunned to actually go anywhere.
(Nerius: 3/20)
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Post by Nerius on Sept 14, 2020 4:44:52 GMT -6
[109]
The movement of the fish was enough to attract the lotine's attention, and she swam over, easily catching the fish. She darted off almost as quickly, but at least it showed the fish made good bait. Nerius released a few more disoriented ones into the crate itself, then backed off a little. Partially to not be in the way of the opening, but also to have the proper angle to quickly shut the gate.
He stood still after that, and after a few moments, Kasuna swam back over, interested in the fish. She was a little wary of the crate, but hadn't ever actually seen one in action, and didn't really understand the purpose. So after a bit of investigation, swam in after the fish. Nerius quickly shut the gate, at at first she didn't notice what had happened, too busy eating the fish, and it wasn't until she tried to leave that Kasuna realized what had happened.
(Nerius: 4/20)
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