Puppet Training

[3kul]

((Hahaha, s'ok, I felt the same when you asked LS to use voice commands and concentrate ))

Xuxi was right - it was very complicated. Chadon staggered around awkwardly at first, and Little Sister was only able to make him move about on the ground. More than once he got tangled amongst her hair, causing his movements to seize up. Untangling him was very easy, since she had total control over her hair, but that didn't stop it from being annoying when it happened.

However, as time went on, Little Sister began to get the hang of it, and she was able to make Chadon walk around without getting tangled or falling over. She could even make him run for a little, although it was difficult to control him at a distance.

Now was the trickiest part - making him fly.

[Any advice on flight mechanisms at all?]

((LS has no idea how Chadon would normally fly, so a short explaination on that might help ))

[Panther385]

Xuxi watched as Little Sister made the puppet walk around. She pondered for a moment when her student asked how to make him fly.
"He flys like any other avian; flapping his wings should do the trick. Make a note that if you tilt Chadon's wings up, down, or to any side, his flight path will change."

[3kul]

Little Sister thought hard for several minutes - how was it birds moved again? To know the general movement wouldn't be very helpful, as she was the kind of person who preferred to get things as perfect as she could. She'd certainly seen a lot of birds in her lifetime, but she'd never bothered to actually watch them before she ate them.

Unfortunately, there were no birds around for her to observe, so she'd just have to give it a shot for now and try to improve upon her methods later. Chadon turned his head and made several clicking noises, signifying his growing impatience.

She moved his wings up and down, but made sure to leave a little slack in the threads controlling him. This way, Chadon would fly naturally after getting the hint of what he was supposed to do, and Little Sister could learn how to properly control him in this way.

She continued to practise maneuvering Chadon like this for many hours - any incorrect movements that she made, he was able to correct them because he was able to make a vague guess as to how she wanted him to move. It wasn't an ideal situation, as Little Sister preferred to be in control, but it was the fastest way to learn.

((Sorry I haven't posted here in so long Panther, I've been a little busy as of late, but I'm going to make sure I do these lessons now! ))

[Panther385]

((It's alright, I've been busy too. ^^))

Chadon eventually figured out what it was his puppetmaster wanted him to do, and jumped into the air. The griffin soared around, waiting for his next instruction.

Xuxi nodded briefly.
"Good job, you've taken to this quite fast. Try having him do some basic ariel manovers; looping, turning, and diving. Then I have a 'mission' for you to do."

[3kul]

((Isn't it great how I stick to my word? But really, this training should make for some interesting skills, if I'd finished much earlier, I'd have been able to use puppets in the Olympics... Curse my slack attitude to this training! ))

Little Sister stared at Xuxi for a few moments, then back at the puppet. She tugged sharply at one of his wings, hoping that he'd get the message that she wanted him to turn. He sort of did, but she'd tugged too hard, and he had to dive a bit to recover. Not what she'd intended, but it was an interesting discovery.

She continued practicing, gradually getting the hang of some of the more simple maneuvres. Looping was a little tricky with the strings, but she persevered until she thought she had a good grasp of it.

((Sorry to skip on the details, but I'm imagining that practicing would take a long time ))

[Panther385]

((That's very true. *grins* ))

Xuxi grunted approvingly and stated the task.

"There's a certain bird I am fond of, a songbird of sorts. It lives a little north of this area. The bird is white with grey flecks on it's head and wings. Your task is to retrieve one of them and bring it back to me."

She grinned suddenly, as if she was laughing at some inside joke.

"There's only one catch: Bring it back by sundown today.... Which is in about 6 hours. I'll be waiting."

The ghostly apparation clamly curled up in a pathc of sun in the field.

[3kul]

~Keh, child's play.~ Little Sister thought to herself. She had no idea why Xuxi wanted this bird, but she figured that the cat would probably want it alive (if she didn't, Little Sister could always kill it later). Xuxi's grin irritated her, so Little Sister decided to leave now.

Hopping on top of Chadon, and with several twitches of her hair strands, the puppet took off with several wingbeats. The pair kept at a low altitude as they headed north, Little Sister figuring that she'd have a much better chance spotting the songbird if they were flying like this.

((Sorry Panther, I'd type more, but I can't think of much atm ... Where abouts does the bird live (like, a forest or what)? Oh, and will you be RPing the bird, or will I just have to figure out how to make the puppet catch it?))

[Panther385]

((Yep, it makes its home in the forest. I'll roleplay the bird for a little while, also. You just have to find them first ))

[3kul]

Little Sister was in a very bad mood by now - she'd spent almost three hours looking for this damn bird now and found no sign of it. The forest floor was littered with the bodies of the birds that had been so insolent as to fool her by looking somewhat simiar to the songbird.

~How could one freakin' bird be so damn hard to FIND?!~

She thought, emitting an ear piercing shriek to vent some of her frustration on the world around her. Although it wasn't an intentional strategic move, it was pretty clever nonetheless - birds scattered from anywhere nearby her in all directions, which meant that she didn't have to look for them now, as they were in plain sight. Amidst them flew what appeared to be the very songbird that she needed to find - white with grey flecks on it's head and wings.

~Oh, talk about dumb luck...~

Chadon's joints creaked a little as she kicked him into high gear, and within seconds they'd closed the distance between them and the songbird. Little Sister extended a large woven claw towards the bird, aiming to catch it, and...

((*waits for Panther to RP the bird *))

[Panther385]

The bird chirped and made an attempt to get away by banking sharply upwards. Its wings flapped vigerously as it saw Little Sister pursuing behind. All its instincts told it that having someone chase you wasn't a good thing.

[3kul]

Little Sister's swipe at the bird was far too enthusiastic for someone who was in mid-flight, as she now found out. The crafty little bugger shot upwards as Little Sister and Chadon wheeled sideways, both attempting to recover whilst avoiding the many trees in their way at the same time. For a few seconds they found themselves working against each other - Little Sister attempting to take too much control of the situation, whilst Chadon was attempting to react based on his knowledge of flying - before they managed to pull back up and resume pursuing the bird.

This time, Little Sister whipped a few individual tendrils out at the bird. Such minimalistic movements wouldn't really make controlling Chadon time any more difficult, and yet she could still capture the bird if she managed to wrap one around it, or perhaps break one of it's wings or something.

[Panther385]

One of the hair's cut the side of the fleeing bird, the avian became worried as it began to bleed. The creatures behind were larger than it was... Which gave it an idea. It dived and landed next to a tree, hoping its pursuer wouldn't be able to follow.

[3kul]

The bird was right enough - Little Sister hadn't had enough experience riding Chadon to pull off what would be an exceedingly difficult maneuvre for a pair of their size, and as such they kept flying.

Unfortunately for the bird, Little Sister wasn't one to give up easily. As the pair shot past the tree that the bird was in, a sickle-shaped tendril of hair slammed into the trunk after them, slicing right through it. The tree's weight shifted, slipping towards the stationary bird as Little Sister wheeled Chadon about, once again making a beeline for the tiny avian.

[3kul]

*bump*

Paaaaaaantheeeeeer, don't forget my training in puppetry please! I had to pay for this .

[Panther385]

((*GASP SHOCK HORROR* Sorry, I forgot. I hadn't even known you'd replied! ))

The bird was caught off guard, as it was trying to tend to its wound. The sudden creak of a trunk alerted it- another tree was falling right towards it! The bird chriped and took off upwards; which at best, would have it right in the grasp of Little Sister.