Exon's Training Montage [FullofBones]

When he wakes up again, it strikes him that he... may have pushed things a bit too far yesterday, judging by how his body seems to complain the second he's awake. It was kind of hard to judge when too far was... well, too far, and it looks like he isn't going to get to give it another shot until he actually takes some time to recover.

Rolling himself into an upright position, Exon settles himself up against the base of the Chromillia, mind drifting as he tries to settle himself into a more inactive state- a part of him is fighting to try and get going again, to keep pushing himself, to better and improve. He isn't stupid, though. Rest is important, and things only go downhill if you choose to be an idiot and go beyond what's safe for yourself.

An incredibly important aspect of training is bulking up and getting stronger. All the skills in the world won't help you if you can't land a good hit, after all. Initially, Exon had no idea where he would even start with something like that when all he is... is... well... a blob. Round and squishy, and no notable features he can work out. Full body exercises are pretty much the only thing he can do, and he's frankly kind of stumped.

There isn't any water nearby, so no swimming. He can't get a good grip on any of the trees, so climbing is out too. Maybe he could just roll a heavy rock around for a bit or something...?

With no better ideas. Exon sets on his self-assigned mission with a fervor, pushing rocks up out of the sand and rolling circles around the Chromillia he set up camp by earlier. It seems to almost be watching him, the petals swiveling around to follow his path as he bores a path into the packed sand.

Just a few more laps to go!

With the arrival of his arms comes the arrival of many new possibilities and ideas. Now he isn't restrained to a few modes of action- he can run, jump properly, push himself off of things, and most importantly- he can climb. Exon's managed to push his limits decently far for a while now, but it's starting to slow down and he needs a new way to improve... and that was when inspiration struck.

He could build an obstacle course to let himself adjust to strange and uncertain terrain! The thick claws that tip his fingers can be used for a better grip than any nubbier hands could dream of, and he doesn't weigh enough for it to be hard to climb vertical surfaces. With these facts in mind, Exon sets out to try and gather up the beginnings of a training area.

Clearing out a flat area of sand takes a while, but it's thankfully fairly easy, and he marks the location of his spot through the friendly Cromillia. 

The hardest part was getting the supplies there, really, but with a borrowed bag and some directions, he gets to work, dragging and hauling scraps of ferrowood, logs and chunks from bleeding heart trees, poffdula pods, and a handful of tough cyrill vines. The paint from the pods is used to section out areas of the course, places he can stand in the sand, and the general course you're supposed to take. The ferrowood is mostly used to reinforce the logs, minus one section where it's a straight climb up a slanted metallic surface- just to see if he can. The vines are used as a pseudo-tightrope, bridging the span between a few of the taller logs.

In the end, the course ends up being kind of short, if not complicated. The work to get everything set up and there was hard, but Exon is genuinely looking forward to giving this one a shot!

Setting up at the starting line, he bounds forward with as much speed as he can muster, claws scrabbling at the steel and bark of the first pole! He scrambles up onto the top and leaps to the next, starting a chain of jump, grab, jump, grab from increasingly strange angles until he finally hits the section with the ropes. This part is definitely harder- he has to slow down to make it across, and almost fell down in the process. 

The real issue at the end of the course is the metal upward slope, though. He has to take several running tries to make it all the way up to the top, and his attempts leave scores and dents in the material. Looks like his claws are harder than he thought?

Making his way off the slope, Exon tumbles over himself at the finish line, exhilaration prompting the first laugh out of him.

That... was a lot of fun. Too slow, but practice makes perfect, right?