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Introduction to Animal Magic - Behavior Analysis

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    Bloody filed after the other students into their new teacher's classroom.  It was odd to not have Professor Razik heading the class as he had for every other class Bloody had attended at the academy thusfar.  Not that having a bit of a change up was really a bad thing, she just hoped that this new instructer was just as helpful and dedicated to his subject as Razik was.  Admittedly, she'd be silently analyzing all of his moves, and probably judging them as well.  But such was her way.

    Upon entering the newly-furnished classroom that would serve as the Introduction to Animal Magic classroom, Bloody took a brief moment to let her eyes drift over everything, taking it all in as she waited for the others to sit down.  It seemed that their teacher was greeting them all by name upon entry.  Interesting.  She was privately impressed that he'd taken the initiative to memorize all of their names.  Perhaps he genuinely cared that much about them all and wanted the class to know it.

    When it came to be her turn, she returned his greeting with a single nod and an even "greetings."  Moving on to the long rows of tables lined with desks and ready quills placed in ink wells, Bloody took a seat nearer the front of the room on the end where she would have the space to get up without bumping into anyone if she so needed to.  That, and she preferred being nearer to the teacher and the blackboards anyways.  She didn't have to listen to the chatter of individuals who suffered from a lack of focus and could instead focus solely on the subject.

    Neatly placing her book down upon the desk in front of her and pulling out her chair, she waited patiently for the class to quiet down and the teacher to begin.  It turned out that his name was Virgil, though she would likely refer to him as Mr. Valerian as it was more formal and implied that she was only interested in establishing a professional relationship as opposed to a friendship, which was more appropriate to her considering he was to act as her teacher for the next three months.

    The teacher began to address the topics of the class along with what their first assignment would be--animal communication.  Ah, well that wouldn't be too terribly difficult.  Many of the species surrounding the school had been ones that the demoness had studied in the past, and being rather beastly herself, she understood much about animal behavior and body language.  In fact, she felt confident enough to begin her paper right then at her desk, though she would of course study in the library later for her presentation.

    Cracking open her moleskin journal and flattening the item out on the table after having flipped to a crisp page, she went for the pencil that she'd brought with her to class, believing the more modern writing implement to be much more efficient than ink-based writing items.  Heading a new section, she began to write down her prior knowledge on the subject.

Bloody
Valerian - LIN 103
Introduction to Animal Magic

p
    I would like to first start off my paper by saying that I am quite looking forward to the next three months spent in your classroom, Mr. Valerian.  I trust that you are very knowledgable and skilled to earn such a position, and will give you my undivided attention in class in exchange for knowledge of my own.

    The subject of animal communication is an interesting one, in my opinion.  There are many creatures that communicate through sounds, smells, body language, and other means.  Considering the school's location, there are many prime examples of animals in the area communicating with one another.  The bats, for example, are able to alter the frequencies and length of their calls to signal different things to one another such as the threat of predators, areas with more food, or, of course, if they are available for mating.  The carnivorous moose herds that occasionally pass through the area communicate mostly through grunts, bugles, the clicking of their hooves, snorting, or head nodding and hoof plowing--not to mention their own unique version of growling.

    Now, I myself come from two very different, animalistic species myself--those being a Blood Dragon and a Blood Demon, and I was tuaght many things through experience with other dragon and demon species as well as my own parents on the subject of nonverbal as well as verbal communication.

    There are many, many different species of dragons along with subspecies, and depending on the element associated with them along with their species, they're bound to act a bit differently.  Blood dragons, for the most part, are solitary animals, rarely seeking company apart from mating purposes.  Mother was a care case, I suppose, as she stayed with my father even after her clutches had all hatched and were growing rapidly.  With us, she would stay in her dragon form, and while in this form, spoke mostly in the dragon tongue as well as in a series of clicks and growls or snorts.  Sometimes, when she was especially pleased or comfortable, she would even make a sound resembling that of a cat's purr, though it was much, much deeper, and reverberated off of the walls of the cave around us.  Her posture would be loose, yet proper.  She never slouched, believing it was damaging to the body and weakened one in the event of confrtontations.  She would instead hold her head high whenever out of the home, making unwavering eye contact with anyone she happened to be conversing with.  When happy, her face muscles would relax, her ears would focus upon her surroundings as well as what was in front of her, swiveling occasionally, and her wings would be folded.  When confronted with something displeasing, her brows would crease, her head would tilt down a bit, and her lips would pull back and down, her ears not moving nearly as much.  When angry, her pupils would contract to narrow slits, and her snout would crease as her lips pulled back to bare her sharp teeth.  Her ears would fold and the spikes along her back would rise up moreso than usual.

    I have trouble recalling many instances in which she ever had to resort to defending us with tooth and claw while in our field of vision, but I had seen her posture resemble that which is very similar to a cat with her low head, bared teeth and folded ears.  Her legs would bunch and her hackles rose, long, thick tail swinging slowly side to side, occasionally giving a faster whip to help her move faster if fighting.  Sometimes, though she would stamp the ground and claw up dirt and vegetation, rolling her shoulders and waving her body slowly back and forth--a show of strength and intimidation.  If scaring something off, her wings would open and she would extend her neck, opening her jaws wide so that the enemy could see the beginnings of a glow of fire in the back of her throat.  That, and the various sigils that marked her body would suddenly begin to glow a deep red, and would pulse if she was in a stand off, only shining solidly if she was actually engaged in battle.

    A snort from her might have signaled laughter or amusement, annoyance, or disbelief.  It all depended upon the look in her eyes and the way her lips formed either a smile, a straight line, or a frown.  A growl of course signaled frustration, irritation, or anger and rage.  Grumbles and grumble purrs could show understanding, agreement, or would simply be a polite way of showing the other party that she was listening to them as they spoke.  Roars were territorial and were meant to drive off predators and attackers.  Tongue clicks showed amusement or were meant to calm and comfort her young, or could eve show surprise.  Jaw opening and closing or teeth clicking could show that she wanted our attention, and if we weren't listening, the jaw closing turned to snapping.  The flicking of her ears could signal many things, as well, and could really only be deciphered by her tone or situation, just like the movement of her tail.

    With father it was a tad bit different.  He was much more human-like than our mother, though he still communicated largely through growls, grunts, ear movements, and tail movements.  That is how I communicate, as well, seeing as how I haven't yet been able to transform into my dragon form, and instead can only change between my humanoid form and my demon form.  I myself use mostly my ears to communicate, mostly subconciously, mind you, but also use subtle noises amidst my speech, and certain facial expressions.

    Getting back to one of your original points of focus, mating season is largely dominated not by body language or noise, but by pheromones.  Animals tend to secrete them more around their mating seasons or whenever the female of the species is ready for fertilization.  (Note that there are rare exceptions of creatures in which sex plays little to no part in the reproduction cycle.)  Usually during this time, trails will be left to lead potential mates to the female's place of inhabitation.  Males may also be the ones to attract the oppostie gender by showing off some kind of physical feature that the females may find to be the most attractive and or beneficial if passed on to their young.  Sometimes, depending on the creature, softer noises will be made to potential mates to show that the creature has no intentions of harming them or their future young, but really, it depends on the animal.

    This is everything I know from past research, but I will be sure to continue my studies and record notable findings in my journal.  I hope you enjoy what I have written and what I will write in the future.


    Licking her fangs absently, Bloody lowered her pencil and considered what she wrote.  Yes . . . this would likely do just fine.  Now, how much longer until- oh!  It seemed to be the end of class already.  Bloody saw that other students were already heading out of the room and were saying goodbyes to the teacher and their peers or were making plans to work on the assignment in groups and pairs.  Bloody once again glanced down to all of the work that she'd gotten done.  Working in a group wasn't really something she preferred, though she supposed the teacher had a point as she would have to work with others in the future, and if things went according to plan, she would have to work with an animal that she found to accompany her.

    Standing and pushing in her seat, she gathered her things and made her way out of the room after the others, noddiing again to her teacher and giving a short goodbye.  Looked like there was still time to get to the library and get a majority of her research out of the way early.  This was making out to be a relatively easy class after all.
LIN 103:  Introduction to Animal Magic
April Assignment - Discuss Animal Communication

Word Count:  1872

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Bloody (c) Me
Virgil, Assignment (c) Diluculi 
     April Assignments:  Magical Linguistics Assignments - April
OW (c) viralremix
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SparrowOfTheDawn's avatar
Aw, that was cool to read!  Thank you so much and great job!