Show Ring!, Agility Contest

Participation Prize
((Please put ALL tricks, moves, and abilities used by your contestant in an OOC line at the end of your post, even ones not done on command, else they will not be counted toward your score))

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The people allowed to post in this thread are as follows:

It was weird to be here without one of his own trusted and trained critters. Even though he'd had this Lerrel, who was sitting on his shoulder looking around at everything else with interest, for a year or more - he never thought of Prelitya as his own. She was his ex-boss's through and through. It had been her who had trained it, her who had loved it. Now Ashe just used it for gain, whether in battle or in a contest like now. He wouldn't admit it openly, but that was what he did. What else could he do? The lerrel was getting to be more and more loyal but that's all it was. There was no love, no special connection, between the two of them. Ashe wasn't even sure if he liked lerrel...

And yet here they were. She was a quick little thing, he had to give her that, so that was why he'd chosen to enter her in this competition. That, and he felt an obligation to Pre to actually do something with this little beast.

He wanted to show the audience her speed but first he had to set things up for a good example. He reached up to coax her to walk onto his arm, then he lowered her to the ground in front of him in the show ring. He took a step back, looking down at her as she looked up at him, her little head tilted to the side. But she soon lost interest in the human and looked around her, admiring the view from floor level. Not that there was much to see down here, but at least it was a change of pace.

Ashe clicked his tongue to get her attention again and her head swiveled over to look at him. "Sit," he said gently, nodding his head to indicate her back end had to go down. She blinked at him, unaccustomed to this command coming from him but deeming it acceptable. Slowly, she sits her butt down on the ground, her tail whipping back and forth.

[Prelitya uses Sit]

With Prelitya sitting, Ashe thought out his plan of attack here. He liked to show off, and he liked to show the crowd just the extent of his creature's abilities whenever he found himself in the show ring here, as he was now. But how would be best to go about giving the example of the skills the little lerrel possessed? He had seen the competition and wasn't sure if he would be able to wow the audience enough to knock out some of them. He wasn't going to give up, though.

Growing bored of this and of Ashe, Prelitya started to stand up and walk away. Ashe caught her in the middle of her first step, however, and was quick to deliver a command. "Prelitya!" he snapped. The lerrel hesitated, hearing her name. She flicked her wings slightly and looked up at him. "Sit..." Ashe leveled his gaze at her until her rear made contact with the ground. This time, to ensure she stayed, he added, "Stay."

[Prelitya uses 'stay']

Pulling a little rock out of his pocket, Ashe prepared to show the audience just how quickly she could move when she sensed danger coming, whether in the form of an attack or something falling in her general direction. He held her gaze for a moment then started walking around behind her. The lerrel attempted to follow after him, shifting her position so she didn't have to crane her neck all the way around. She decided to form an alliance with this human, but that didn't mean she trusted him behind her when she couldn't see him!

And that distrust was well placed, and yet she was too obedient for her own good. He told her to stay put, and she did as told, but he did not. He continued around behind her until he was out of her viewing range and it was there that he stopped, holding up his rock - and then he let it fly. It sailed through the air toward the lerrel. Prelitya snapped into action and whirled around, side-stepping as she did so.

[Danger Sense activates]

"Good girl, Prelitya!" Ashe praised her. She chattered angrily at him, flicking her tail in an agitated manner. Ashe ignored her, though, and took a step closer to her. She backed away until Ashe followed her, step for step, and she decided to just sit still and see what the human wanted. Ashe held up his arm, horizontally, so she could see it. He wondered briefly if it was too high for her or not, but he had to attempt it. He saw her eyeing his arm with interest, curious about what he was going to do with it, but she didn't move away from him.

"Jump," Ashe said finally, gesturing to his arm. She looked at him in the face, then to the arm, sizing up the distance. She flicked her tail back and forth in one circuit, then she leaped into the air, her wings fluttering at her sides as if to help her climb through the air. Her claws dug into Ashe's unprotected arm and held firm, her tail working to balance her.

[Prelitya uses 'jump']

This one, Ashe recalled not having been taught. He hoped Prelitya worked with him, though, and successfully did it anyway. If she didn't she might have a very sore paw later on and she'd regret it...so for her sake, you could say, he was hoping she would pull this off. He lifted his arm a bit higher and a bit further away from his body. Prelitya shifted her weight and her balancing tail to accomodate for the new position. She saw no problem with how things were just yet but she had no idea what was coming to her in just a moment.

Ashe braced himself, knowing she'd be super pissed at him later. It was a risk he was willing to take, though. He dropped his arm in a flash. It was fast enough that Prelitya didn't have a chance to react. Her claws reached for the arm that had been under her, finding only air. Her claws hadn't been big enough to hold a grasp on his arm, and the arm itself was too smooth. She began to fall to earth.

She flailed briefly during her plummet, then her wings snapped open on instinct. They didn't do much good, being as untrained in the art of flying and gliding as she was, but she was experienced enough to know how to use them a little bit. They caught the air and slowed her descent. Her angling of the wings was a little off so she wobbled through the air. She managed a relatively, given the circumstances, straight line and then a less than perfect landing, her claws grasping the ground while she had the chance. She stared around her, obviously relieved to be back on a solid surface. Ashe almost felt bad for what he'd done... Almost, but not quite.

She turned on him and gave him such an evil glare that he was glad he'd taken off the ribbon before stepping into the ring. He'd come here wearing it, thinking he'd need it to help control her, but he had thought better of it. He really didn't feel like hearing exactly what she thought of him...

[Prelitya uses Glide]

She was pissed at him. Nothing new about that. It was only going to get worse before they could kiss and make up when Ashe got home and had Silver make Prelitya a pie or something. It would be Ashe giving her the treat, of course, to get her to like him again, not Silver... Results were what mattered, not the method, in this case.

"Please don't hate me too much, girl..." He murmured as he took a step toward her. She whipped around to face him, crouching low to the ground, threatening him. If he came closer, she was going to pounce. She knew all about pouncing, after all. Just a little bit closer...

And Ashe entered the danger zone. He stepped a little too close and the lerrel sprung like a coil suddenly released in her legs. She aimed for his middle, not wanting to get caught by his hands if she landed any higher. She leaped, grabbed a hold of, then released and glided back down to the safety of the ground. Ashe flinched upon seeing the missile coming at him, stopping mid-step.

[Prelitya uses Pounce]

Ashe recovered fairly quickly and continued on his path toward the lerrel. To his dismay, she kept moving, and even tried to jump at him again, so he couldn't get the line up he needed to show the audience this move. He eventually used the 'stay' command on her and got her to stay still long enough for him to move right up in front of her. She eyed him, prepared for anything, and he eyed her, also prepared for everything. The stalemate had to be broken and quickly...

So Ashe broke it. He dropped to the ground, his hands out in front of him as he aimed straight for the lerrel. He acted as if he was going to try to catch her with his bare hands. The lerrel saw him coming and only a moment later she had dodged out of the way, even her tail evading capture. She did this another two times before Ashe was confident she had shown the audience how well she could dodge- and look at that! He hadn't even needed to say the verbal command!

[Prelitya uses Dodge]

There was one little bit to do while he had her on the ropes, so to speak. Instead of going back and forth trying to catch her, he got up on his feet again and caved, giving the verbal command again. "Dash!"

Thanks to Ashe's earlier teasing and general pissing off, the Lerrel took a few moments to clue into what it was Ashe was saying, what he wanted. Ashe didn't feel like waiting this out and charged after her, stooped and with his arms down as if he was going to scoop her up and capture her that way. The lerrel caught on and dashed away from him as fast as she could manage, her little legs moving as fast as a racing Equillion's. She was across the ring quickly and there she stayed, safe for now from Ashe's rather rude attempts of capture. Ashe stood up, pleased with the results. Hopefully the judge wouldn't think his actions too barbaric. The lerrel could take care of herself.

[Prelitya uses Dash]

Skye knew, right from the moment the man with the lerrel stepped off the ring's stage, she was in trouble. With an iron grip upon Snowyice's rope, she gave the lead a gentle tug, walking forward into the light.
The gallor, pissed beyond comprehension of the word's complex meaning, jerked her head back towards the doors. She did not want to go that way. She would not be lead around by IT. It however, is a persistent little rat. Repeatedly trying to head into that bright area. Hetero-chromatic eyes narrowed, Snowyice jerked back a second time, hissing a warning. Her thick tail lashed around tensed feline legs, unwilling to walk forward.
"Move." Skye growled, getting behind the stubborn ass of a gallor, backing up a bit before giving the giant drake sized chimera a shove from behind. "Move forward Snowyice."
Planting her talons beneath her, Snowyice shrieked at the indignity of this. She was a queen, not a common hooved servant. She could hear the uneasy sounds coming from the creatures around her, smelled the other beasts behind her.

The voices of the muttering crowd in the stands could have been magnified for all she knew, but Skye seemed more set on shoving her gallor into the ring.
"I don't care if you just stand there, just get in the flippin' ring." she hissed, shoving the feline hindquarters for the third time. With a lucky retreat, Snowyice's sharp owl beak narrowly missed her nose. The pair glowered at each other, eyes locked.
'What is that girl thinking?' one older woman asked her petite friend, dabbing her wrinkled cheeks with a lace kerchief. 'Bringing such a beast to an agility trial. Highly dangerous.'
'Mmm, yes.' the petite woman agreed, peering out of her opera glasses, perched atop her turned up nose. 'You must give her points for guts though.'
'Guts don't get you anywhere if you are dead.' the man beside her retorted, giving his neck ruff a tug. Small beads of sweat could be seen around his temples, he hated these hot stage rooms.
'She does not look dead. She looks irritable.' Mrs. Wrinkles tittered, squinting into the ring. 'That beast should have been trained better.'

That remark, Skye heard. Blood rushed to her ears, flushing the skin. It angered her. How could they say that when she could bet they had never trained a lab creature in their lives. Biting the inside of her cheek, she forced herself to keep a lid on her temper, heat radiating from her. Snowyice, whether she liked it or not, was getting in that ring, or she would get hurt trying.
'Don't be reckless, I am not there to protect you from that cat-bird.' Xylophone warned, her seriousness leaking through their emotional ties.
'Shut up Xy.' Skye snapped irritably through the ribbon. 'I know what I'm doing.' The alurook's doubt could be clearly felt.
"Move it." Skye snarled as quietly as she could muster, her gaze one of pure anger. "Now."
Snowyice could have smiled, if she had lips. Such a temper with IT. Not even with her fury would it back off. Except for the shoving, it had not laid one hand on her. Eyes narrowed in mischief, the gallor stalked past the humanish of her own accord, walking into the ring, at last. She would do things her way, not ITS way.

'Mr. Ruff, you sound like you think that beast is not dangerous.' Mrs. Wrinkles replied with an accusing tone, turning to look at the ruffled man over her friend.
'Its a cat, and an owl, practically cut in half and sewn together. I do not approve of the monsters those laboratory people make.' Mr. Ruff growled, tugging his ruff again nervously. 'Its tampering with life itself.'
'Both of you, shut up.' the woman with the glasses hissed. 'Its starting.'
'At long last.' Mr. Ruff sighed, returning his attention to the ring. 'Watch your mouth Ms. Glasswar. Women do not swear.' he did not see her fist clench in her lap, sharply manicured nails digging into the flesh of her palm.
Stalking into the ring with the air of a bull ready to charge at the first red object it laid eye on, Skye stood beside her gallor, ignoring her for now.
"Ladies, gentlemen and judges." she began, addressing all she could witness. "I present, Snowyice, the queen of the gallor!" she stepped aside, allowing the crowd to witness full glory of the owllor.