Fate - First Reply Who says you can’t teach an ageless cat new tricks?

[Nacht]

Armed with a veritable pile of snacks, Nacht was determined to spend his class off training Shade to do…something. Actually, he had just the thing to try to make a trick. See, the only thing he had ever been able to notice Shade hated was a hand slowly moving to pet her. This lead to a bat meant to say- hey, keep away unless you really want to give me scratchies!

One day, a thought crossed Nacht’s mind. That bat seemed kind of like a less well intentioned high five. Now, the day had come for him to test his theory. Slowly approaching a sitting Shade, he would ever so slightly move his hand towards her. Sure enough, she made an irritated expression and smacked his hand with a tiny but intensely cute jump. In response, Nacht cheered a bit and gave her a treat.

Shade chewed on it appreciatively, something in her eyes changing. He repeated the process one more time and Shade purred, understanding exactly what the deal was. What Nacht didn’t know was that she now expected a treat, which meant the part where he taught her how to do it without a treat would be that much harder. Thusly, he began his effort, at first trying to make the high five without a treat work.

After a couple of hours, maybe two or so, he realized there was a better way to work this. The next time he tried, he gave Shade a treat immediately after. The next attempt, he waited a bit, and then gave her the treat. “Yes! This’ll work!” By the time they were finished, the cat could wait all of thirty seconds before she started boring her eyes into the side of his skull for her reward.

“Now all I need….is to make sure I trained her well enough that she’ll hand tap anyone.” He’d mutter to himself before hearing the sounds of footsteps on the ground nearby. “Hey, would you like to see a trick? I taught my cat something!” He’d say as he turned, too happy to see that what he was saying might be weird.

 

[Aramirn Springvale]

Wrangling one of the creatures the younger squires somehow managed to lure into the monastery proved to be a time-consuming task. They'd bitten off more than they could chew in the hopes of seeking a prized pet for themselves, but it was a foolhardy venture. The inexperienced knew enough to be dangerous, but not enough to know how to gauge a challenge. Despite the care Aramirn took in luring out the stoat-like creature, he couldn't relocate it without sustaining some damage. It just had too many legs to pin them all down after it narrowly escaped his first trap. His ruddy brown shirt, which had already been sewn back together multiple times, sported several new rips and tears.

A green lizard, Aelth, clung to his arm, her long tail curled around his arm. Tiny claws dug into the fabric, and her leaf-like wings folded neatly against her body. Compared to Aramirn, she was completely unmarred. After all, he only needed her to use her lure to draw the creature out, and he wouldn't have his dear pets hurt if he could help it. Aelth was the first to react to the stranger. Her head whipped around and her dark eyes went wide. The lizard's tail curled more tightly around his arm. Aramirn stopped, gave a small, "Hm?" and turned to face the stranger.

"Great job! You can show me."

Even after getting beaten up a little bit, seeing a new animal rarely ceased to brighten his day.

Nacht

 

[Nacht]

The target of this question in particular seemed like an animal lover in their own right. Sporting a rather pretty emerald-colored lizard on arm and many scratches on his clothes, the squire could guess his fellow order member was more than an ordinary enthusiast. Nacht only slightly jumped as the man's lizard spied him and went scared mode. No, it was more apt to say unnerving. Nacht stared uncomfortably for a moment at the reptile's wide eyes and then broke away, the loser of their impromptu staring contest.

They then appeared to tense up, finally alerting the man they were presumably owned by. Just then, everything clicked in the boy's mind: This was the famed squire Aramirn. Forget being just a lover o' animals, this guy apparently had a whole menagerie of pets he probably took great care of. That is to say, the idea of showing someone his new trick had just become a lot more intimidating than it otherwise might have been. No, there was no reason to be scared, he tried to tell himself.

His compatriot seemed nice and friendly, unlikely to switch on a dime like he unreasonably feared. Shade, upon sensing his discomfort, growled and sneered at the lizard. It was a sound he was both slightly happy to hear and also slightly surprised. "Sorry, she's not normally so...growly." He answered, approaching closer and stopping at a normal distance. "Your reputation proceeds you, man. Maybe you could even give me some tips!" he chirped cheerily, kneeling down and setting Shade on the ground within the confines of his aura.

"Right, Shady! Tap!" he said, moving his hand towards her and feeling an intense sense of relief as she jumped a little for height and her paw shot out to meet it. "Good!" he said, not babying at all. His best friend was no dog, and presumably only took treats as a reward as opposed to high noises. In accordance with this, he quickly surrendered her prize. Yes, as a shadow she had no need to eat, but that did not mean she couldn't in the first place.

Aramirn Springvale