After the flexing exercise, Malachi takes off in a run. Matthias follows on ground, race walking a little slower as he watches with surprise how Malachi is able to glide already, "Alright, looks like you've got some natural talent!" he says gleefully. These lessons might be a walk in the park. Briefly, and with disappointment, he also knows it means their deal might not last long. Ah well.
"Taking flight and gliding are two different beasts, though. If we want to get those wings in shape for true flight, you're going to have to do a lot of flapping," and, just in case Malachi had any reason to protest, he'd explain, "Trust me, you really don't want to try actual flying until you're sure your wings are strong enough to sustain you in the air. This part of the lesson will probably be the most boring, but it gets more fun from here."
With that, from standing, he would angle his wings and jump at the same time as he takes to the air. A few wing beats later and he's hovering. And he remains like that, "Hover like this, for as long as you can," Malachi's wing style probably meant he'd have to flap faster, which would tire out the muscles sooner, but they wouldn't grow any stronger without pressure.
With a hop and a quick run, gliding came more natural to the boy than he thought. He lands gracefully on all fours, then turns to look at the hooved cat. He grins proudly, showing off his golden k9's. "How was that?" he asks, feeling rather proud for his first attempt to be a success. He beams a little more as Matt called him a natural, his tail giving a small wag of pleasure.
Then the feline spoke more: "Taking flight and gliding are two different beasts, though. If we want to get those wings in shape for true flight, you're going to have to do a lot of flapping. More flapping. He flexes his sore wings again, giving them a strong flap here and there before resting. "I will say using wings is a real learning curb" and a tiring one at that! He nods as the feline continues with the lesson, taking the information like a starved creature. He would need it if he really wanted to be able to use the wings.
Malachi watches as Matt jumps with an ease, and with a few wing beats he is hovering in the air. He made it look so simple, then asks Malachi to give it a go. His eyes instinctively find a stump near by and the boy takes off in a sprint, flapping his wings as he runs he leaps into the stump and then into the air attempting to flap his wings so that he can hover mid air.
---
Dice roll:
Success: he leaps and is able to get high enough in the air to hover before landing a little roughly to the ground.
Fail: he hovers for a split second but falters and falls, due to sore wings. -1 hp
NPC Diceroll 1: Fail Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Strength.
499 was added for Level 1.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
A few thoughts mulled about in Matthias' mind as their lesson continued. Like, what kind of procedure would one have to do to get gold teeth? Or, would gold teeth even look good on me? And what can a guy do around here to get some damn gold? A lot of it was just about gold, actually. But it was also about Malachi himself. Estimating how long it would take for him to learn how to use his wings, how long he had Malachi's services for, and if there might be any more use he could get out of Malachi. He decided not to make any hasty deals.
When Malachi tried and failed to keep at a hover, instead landing unceremoniously back onto the ground, Matthias resists the urge to wince or make a joke of it. He had a strong feeling Malachi wouldn't appreciate that. Channeling his inner dad-voice, conjured up from the days of teaching his daughter how to fly, he walks over to the wolf and says calmly, "That's okay. Failure is bound to happen. Just keep trying," then, he adds, "We want your wings to be sore but not painful. Do they feel sore or in pain? We can stop if this is too much."
At first he thought he has gotten the hang of it, but his sore wings fall short and Malachi dropped to the ground like a rock.'How annoying!' He thinks to himself, not getting the result he wanted.
"That's okay. Failure is bound to happen. Just keep trying. We want your wings to be sore but not painful. Do they feel sore or in pain? We can stop if this is too much." Malachi's ears tuck back onto his head, annoyed with the situation he found himself in.
"They don't hurt yet." He flexes the muscle testing it out. The movement felt out of place but it didn't cause too much pain. "I want to keep going, quitting now would be stupid!" He snaps, sounding more like his father than he means to. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude..you..reminded me of my dad with that voice." He slightly frowns but tucks it away, "Do you have kids? Because that voice reminds me of my dad." He wonders aloud, as he re-position's himself for another run.
He was going to glide dang it! Even if it took all night!
Malachi takes off for the stump once again. His paws push off the wood and he thrusts his wings; willing them to beat so that he can hover in the air.
[OOC NOTES:]
NPC DICE ROLL: Strength
Health: 7 / 8HP {lost 1 hp in previous post}
success = Malachi hovers in the air.
Fail = His wings are more sore than he originally thinks, he falls again. -1hp
NPC Diceroll 1: Fail Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Strength.
462 was added for Level 0 (50/50).
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
'I want to keep going, quitting now would be stupid!' the wolf snaps, and Matthias' brows furrow in response. His tail subconsciously curls upwards and inwards, but relaxes when Malachi seems to calm down, explaining that the lion's tone reminded him of his father. He wonders for a moment if Malachi has any daddy issues. You and me both.
He responds to the next question, "I do," begrudgingly, he allows Malachi to keep trying, even though it seemed to him that he was beginning to overexert himself. After all, he's not the boy's father, and in all honesty he didn't care much what the wolf chose to do as long as he held up his end of their deal. But when Malachi fails once more, this fall more damaging than the next, Matthias walks over to the stump and gets real close, "Alright, that's enough. If you keep this up, your wings will be sore for days," this time he was stern, head slightly lowered and almost defensive. Defensive for who? Himself? Malachi? "Let's call it a session and get to hunting," he wasn't taking no for an answer.
Malachi didn't go into the air as planned. He plummets to the ground like a sack of rocks. A frustrated sound leaves his mouth! How much of a failure could he be?! "Let's call it a session and get to hunting," The sound of Matthias's voice brings him back to reality and he nods.
Maybe doing something else would be better for him. He has always been good at hunting. It was the one thing he could pride himself in. Sure, lets find some food. He agree's with the blue feline, putting his nose to the ground he walks around a little looking for a sign of an animals trail, something had to have passed through here at some point.
Malachi wonders to himself where the cat's child was at, if he had one like he said. Maybe the kid was just good at hiding away. "Where is your kid at?" he asks, looking up to the cat in curiosity. Perhaps he was overstepping bounds by asking- but one would never know if they didn't ask right?
Eventually his searching pays off and the scent of goat fills his nostrils. "I found a trail!" He says, and it was quite fresh, belonging to a goat.
DICE ROLL: Constitution
Success: The trail leads straight to the goat and they confront one another in a scuffle.
Fail: The trail gets confusing and Malachi must keep searching to find the goat.
NPC Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Constitution.
547 was added for Level 1.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
The goat hadn't noticed the predators on the bluffs. It was busy getting it's belly filled with the berries on a nearby bush when Malachi decided to follow its trail.
However it looks up in time to see the canine running straight for it. Instead of running away scared it bleats in anger at the canine, horns down it charges the wolf, trying to ram it backward with it's strong round horns.
DICE ROLL: Strength, level 1
success: Its horns make contact with Malachi, knocking him backward and taking the wind from his lungs -1hp (The goat does not see Matt yet,)
fail: It misses and is open to being attacked by either predator.