Tenth Sunrise

[yabigfurball]

[Okay. Amaterasu is concerned on a number of levels now. Everyone is acting very strange! She faces Cambot, pulls out her paper and brush, and paints up a quick sketch:]



[She then shows the picture to Cambot as if he should be paying close attention. People should not be behaving like wolves! They should be behaving like people! Otherwise someone's gonna get hurt...or horribly embarrassed!]

Comments

[halfdarkened]

[Riku cocks his head. Why did she want him to do this? It was certainly interesting trying to walk on half his legs, but he didn't understand why now this was suddenly a big deal. He'd walked on all fours all his life, right?

...This was easier on his back, though.]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy continues to nod her encouragement. She walks in a wide circle to demonstrate that he should try walking like that.]

[halfdarkened]

[...Does she mean to walk reared up like this in a circle or normally? Riku assumes on his rear legs, since he can't figure out a point to the other one. There'd be no challenge in that.

He tries, though he ends up falling forward about halfway though. Riku catches himself and tries again, barely making the circle before supporting himself against the wall again.]

[yabigfurball]

[Yes, that's what she means. And he stayed up for quite awhile! She continues to smile, and barks once for encouragement. Keep at it!]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku cocks his head and replies with a bark of his own. While this could be useful and it does make his back feel better, he doesn't fully understand the point of all this.]

[yabigfurball]

[The point is that so he'll hopefully remember to behave like a human instead of a wolf. She barks again, and tries to stand up again on her hind legs for another demonstration. Once again, she can't hold the position long.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku knows he's different from the other wolves. They smell things he can't. Their paws are different. They have more hair and sharper, more useful, teeth. But he can imitate many noises, and his paws can sometimes pick things up. He can also rear up higher. But being a wolf is all he's known. Looks or not, it will always be part of who he is. They took him in, despite looking and smelling different.

That doesn't mean that learning this trick won't be handy. He could probably be quieter this way with fewer limbs, and appear larger when threatened by another animal.]

[yabigfurball]

[And all of that's confusing Ammy, since she doesn't know all of this supposed history everyone has. All she can do is encourage Riku and the others to behave more normally...for their sake as well as her own.]

[So she nods with more encouragement, points again to the circled human, and nods back at him. All of this is connected, and good!]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku slowly cocks his head, dropping back to all fours a moment while regarding all this.

...Well, he can, why not her, too?

Riku slowly stands back up a little shakily before slowly walking off somewhere. He throws his head back, emitting a long howl. Where is she?]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy just sighs...not like she can teach them how to speak, since she can't do it herself. She looks behind her, and Cambot pans over. She's in her room right now.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku makes his way to her room, slowly learning to keep his balance. His walk is a little hunched, and his "paws" are folded by his chest as he shuffles, but not bad. Upon arriving he scratches at the door, still standing on his "hind legs."]

[yabigfurball]

[Okay, it's good that he's at least walking like a human now, or TRYing to. It's close enough, anyway. She looks around for something to offer as a reward, since that's apparently working...all she's got in here are bones, since she herself likes to chew on those...]

[Oh wait, looks like someone left a sandwich last they were here! Ammy walks over to it, grabs the plate in her teeth, and offers it up to Riku to reward him for standing up.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku sniffs at the sandwich. Peanut butter! That'd be tasty... But he has something else in mind. He takes the plate in his own teeth and sets it aside. He then bends down and gently takes her paws before slowly and carefully standing again. Her feet are different than his, let's help her walk like this too!]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy looks a little bit nervous when she tries to lift him up onto her back paws. He's meant to be on two legs, but she's meant to be on four! She tries to follow along just to humor him (plus, him having thumbs means he can hold her paws), but she looks pretty unsteady and wobbles around some.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku's not the most steady, but he takes his time to make sure he doesn't fall and take Ammy down with him, and also to make sure she doesn't fall either. Yes, it's his strange feet that let him walk like this. He puts her down after a couple minutes an sits down beside her, looking rather pleased all in all.]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy wobbles around after him until he finally lets her go, and she shakes her head out. At least he looks happy with himself for walking on two feet. She just pants at him. She's not sure what else she can do to prove his human-ness to him right now...]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku barks and leaps playfully to all four feet, readying himself as if he wants to race. Awkwardly he gets up on two feet, still leaning forward. He's figured out that there's a square on the wall on the fourth floor from the top, and if you put your nose to it, meat comes out!]

[yabigfurball]

[Well...it is hard for Ammy to resist a good race. And maybe it would be okay if she was on all ours and Riku was on two. That way it would make it seem more normal for him!]

[So she gets back up, and gets into a racing position, ready to go.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku readies himself, leaning against a wall before barking loudly. Go! He bursts forward into this awkward trot, occasionally bumping against the wall but recovering well.]

[yabigfurball]

[And Ammy is off like a shot down the hallway, too. You're gonna have to use those two legs to keep up, Riku!]

[halfdarkened]

[Oh, he's on two legs all right. It feels more... comfortable. Thing is, he's just not very good at it, yet. He is, however, slightly faster this way, though he was pretty slow on all fours comparatively. He's not as fast as Ammy (nor would he be under ideal circumstances) but that doesn't mean he's not trying, howling as he goes!]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy glances behind to make sure that Riku's still following her, and continues down to the cafeteria. That howling definitely presses her on, too! Before long, she reaches the entrance before he does.]

[halfdarkened]

[Riku scrambles behind. Sure, she beat him by a landslide, but he didn't really care. Maybe it was just something along the lines of running with a pack (of one other?) Or maybe just the thrill of a race. He comes up panting and giving a happy bark.]

[yabigfurball]

[Ammy turns around to face him, and barks back. His bark doesn't actually mean anything to her, but oh well. Maybe she can use this opportunity to find a good human food for him.]

[She wanders over to the food synthesizer and studies it. She never was good at figuring out these buttons...]

[halfdarkened]

[Well of course it doesn't, but he doesn't know any better. Oh, wait,now that's something he can help with! He sits beside her a moment to consider before he moves to the buttons, carefully placing his nose over a few before a rare steak flops out and splatters on the ground. He smirks, head held high as he sits on his haunches (or as best as a human can) before sitting back in a somewhat more human fashion to maintain balance. With fingers curled into his palms, he uses both hands to awkwardly hand the steak to Amaterasu.

Okay, first half-running on hind legs and now using his front paws to move things? Now he's just showing off.]