The next day, Val approached Tavras as she slowed her run to a jog. The sun came up over the horizon, letting them watch the sunrise together per usual.

“Nice job this morning, so far,” Tavras said as he settled down beside her. “In the future if you ever need a day off, feel free to let me know. I’ve been pushing you hard, only so that you can make it to the Summit sometime before winter sets in. Do not feel like I am some kind of drill sergeant, though! I hope that you’ve realized that I am pretty laid back. You can have a day off whenever you like.”

“Thanks, Tavras.” Her smile turned to him for a moment before she turned back out to the sun coming up over the waves. “You have always been incredibly supportive with me.”

Tavras returned her smile, a tighter thing, almost pained.

During her morning break for breakfast when Tavras left her alone, Val took the opportunity to spend time with Foofy once again. They repeated their training session with sit, stay, and come. Plus, they had fun fetching the stick. As always, Val made sure to use the word fetch with Foofy so that he would come to understand this one too.

Today, Foofy would begin to learn a new command.

“Stay,” Val said and walked away from him. Then, she turned back and yelled, “Get away!” Meanwhile, she charged at him and flailed her arms around.

Foofy skittered back a little bit for some space, but he remained as close to his original position as he could.

Again, Val walked a little bit away, and said, “Get away!” Running at him once again, this time she kicked up sand in his direction.

Foofy shied away from the sand in his face. His expression scrunched up in a doggy wince as he ran a few strides away.

“Yes! Good Foofy. Good get away.”

Foofy looked to her with narrowed eyes. Likewise, his tail could not quite wag. Sand dotted his dark fur to create a thicker pattern of tan than his natural Doberman appearance. He shook himself off in a cloud of sand, still staring at her with a not very happy expression.

To cheer him up and further reward him, Val threw him a scrap of fish. “Here’s a treat. There you go. Good boy!”

Again, she tried doing the get away command a few more times, but Foofy only ever ran a handful of steps away from her. In a real situation, if Val were to tell him to get away, she wanted him to run far, far away, perhaps not stopping at all. If leaving her behind was what it would take for him to escape danger, then that was exactly what Val wanted him to do.

The more that she tried to push Foofy in learning this command, the more fed up that he became with the training session. On the next attempt that she gave, Foofy decided to stick his ground. His ears laid back flat with a growl.

“Ah, Foofy!” Val exclaimed this with offense, saddened by the fact that he would turn on her, but rightfully so. Her method of dog training was most certainly horrendous. If only she had access to the Internet so that she could educate herself on how to do this better, maybe she could have trained Foofy without torturing him with all of this sand.

For the time being, energy from Keep the Peace washed over him. Val, too, took a break. Once they both had calmed down and refreshed themselves, she returned to throwing sand up at Foofy. “Get away. Get away!”

When Tavras came back for her, he did not ask her to resume their own training session just yet. “What are you doing to that poor dog?” he asked instead, sounding surprisingly mortified on behalf of a land creature.

“Oh uh.” Val hid her hands behind her back. Gritty sand stuck beneath her nails which she picked at with her fumbling fingers. “I am trying to teach Foofy a new command: get away.”

“I mean, I can see that. Why are you kicking sand in this poor dog’s face, though?”

“I am trying to make him get away.”

Tavras only shook his head. “You really put up with this?” he asked down to Foofy.

The Dobie tilted his face up to Tavras, blinking at him. Those blinks could have been an unmoving confirmation in support of Val. Indeed, he did put up with this. Just as well, those blinks could have been a silent plea, begging for Tavras to help him out here.

Val only wished that she could read Foofy’s mind as she tried to understand those steady eyes of his.

“Would you like my help?” Tavras rubbed at the back of his neck as if his offer needed justification. “I’m willing to help not because I like dogs or anything, but just because I cannot stand to see any animal abused like this, not even a land critter.”

“Yes, please! Thanks, Tavras.” She looked to him for new direction on how to go about dog training.

The entire time, Tavras stared back at her. “Well, what do you want me to do? I can lend a hand if there’s anything a second person can help with, but I have no idea what I am supposed to do here.”

“You mean that you don’t know how to train a dog?”

“No, of course not. What part about me disliking land animals do you not understand?”

“You trained a sea serpent, though, didn’t you?”

That sea serpent had done so much more than a few tricks. It had attacked the Wooden Serpent and targeted Val and Foofy specifically to get them off of the ship. From there, it had saved Val’s life and swam according to Tavras’s desire, here to his Paradise. If he could do all of that with a sea serpent, dog training should be a breeze for him.

“Surely, if you can train a sea serpent, you can train a dog,” she tried saying.

Tavras tossed his hands up in the air. “Seriously Val, you expect too much from me. What do you think I am? A god of everything?” His eyes rolled around in his head, and he stooped down to put his face closer to hers. “I am a god of water, the Sea Itself. Of course, I can give orders to a few sea serpents! Dogs, though, are definitely beyond my powers.”

With her brows creased down towards her eyes, Val could also feel her lips pressed together in an equal pout. “Fine, then. We will keep doing things my way, I guess.”

One finger stuck into her face for Tavras to tut at her. “No, I don’t think so. If you want my help, there will be no more throwing sand at Foofy.”

Val nodded along with a tight smile. “I’m sorry for ever doing that to you, Foofy.”

His attention shifted to her at the sound of his name, though he looked more bored than anything else.

“Good Foofy, paying attention!”

With the praise and a treat, Foofy became all the more alert.

“Okay,” Val continued, back to Tavras. “Here’s what we are going to do: I want you to follow my commands like Foofy.

His eyes narrowed at her. “Are you really going to use this opportunity to treat me like your dog?”

That implication had never dawned at her, but now, Val could not shake the thought from her mind. Her cheeks must tinge a bright pink what with the warmth that rose to her face. Beyond the fact that she had just asked one of the most powerful gods in the world to pretend to follow dog commands, she had also asked the man who she had a romantic interest in to act like her dog. One hand covered her face in horror.

“I didn’t mean anything by that,” she stammered.

“I know you didn’t,” Tavras laughed. “Don’t worry. I will be a good, fake model dog for Foofy.”

“Great! Thanks for being a good sport.” Val smiled gratefully at Tavras for being so understanding, then she started giving him instructions. “I’ll tell you to get away, then you call Foofy to come once I tell him to get away. Got it?”

“Got it.”

A few steps back put Val squarely between Tavras and Foofy. First, she gave Tavras his orders.

“Tavras, stay. Good Tavras.” The only reason why she gave him a command and praise was to help Foofy understand.

“Wow, you’re really going all in on this,” Tavras said with a roll of his eyes. Presently, he was not being particularly helpful to this end.

“Shush,” she hissed. Her attention focused on her intended pupil. “Foofy, stay. Good Foofy!” Then, her eyes flitted back to Tavras to thankfully give him the second and final command.

“Tavras, get away!”

“With pleasure.” He took up a sprint far away from her, becoming a shadow across the beach.

Val waited a few seconds to say, “Good Tavras,” only for Foofy’s benefit. From there, she said loud enough for her helper to hear, “Foofy, get away!”

“Foofy, come!” Tavras called.

His first few steps darted almost sideways, unsure by the multiple commands directed at him.

“Get away!” Val repeated, running a few steps towards Tavras while also making a motion with her arms. No sand sailed through the air this time.

In the end, Foofy ran off to join Tavras.

Val took after him in an easy jog. When she arrived in front of them both, she set to praising Foofy extensively. “Yes! What a good Foofy! Good get away.” She dropped a whole bunch of fish scraps onto the beach in front of him, giving him a jackpot of a reward.

“Hopefully that will help him understand,” Tavras said.

“Yeah, let’s see.” Val was about to give just Foofy the command, but Tavras spoke up first.

“I have a genuine question,” he began in a slow voice. “Do I get fish as a reward too? I wouldn’t mind if you caught dinner for me tonight.” Why did he even want to bother waiting on her slow, painstaking attempts at fishing before he could get his meal?

With a roll of her eyes, she drawled out, “Fine.”

“Great!” Tavras cheered, even though it was a petty request for him. He could flip fish out of the ocean with ease, so he had no reason to be excited over somebody else fishing for him.

At any rate, Val continued her training session. Sometimes, she utilized Tavras’s help by calling him away, until Foofy seemed to understand what the get away command meant. From here on out, it would only be a matter of working with Foofy everyday on top of her own training.

Consistency would be the key to a well-trained dog, so Val dedicated this time to Foofy. Just like Tavras helped her work towards her potential, hopefully she could help Foofy reach his own alongside herself. This, she did, until her daily routine would be broken by Tavras.

The endless stream of training had to end eventually, in the same way that her time in Tavras’s Paradise must come to an end one day, too.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Foofy Title: Good Boy Rank: Dog Attributes: None Abilities Name Class Description Come command - can come like a good boy Fetch command - can fetch like a good boy Get Away command - can get away like a good boy Sit command - can sit like a good boy Stay command - can stay like a good boy