The foxes were not naturally inclined to pick up sticks and cart them around, much less to place them with precision under his mental urging - a little to the left, no, the other way. Down a bit. There! - and he had to focus his will to get them to obey. The trick was to impose his will lightly, just enough to get them to do what he wanted, without completely overriding their instincts or sense of self. What he wanted to get a feel for was just how much he needed to push that force with actions that were progressively less natural, though harmless enough to his test subjects. He didn't like forcing them... but he had run into enough dangerous situations to know that someday he might have to in order to save his friends and family, and when that day came he needed to know exactly what his limits were, and how much he could ask - and how much he could compel.
Somewhere nearby he heard the sounds of some small creature being torn apart. An owl or some other nightbird hunting, he assumed, since the sound came from above and behind him. Large white ears flickered back towards the sound, but it was a natural enough noise that for the moment he had no reason to question it. Instead he turned his attention back on the foxes who sat on either side of the sticks, regarding him with golden eyes in the night.
Tilting his head the other direction he ordered both foxes to begin digging a hole behind the sticks, pushing with his will to nudge them into action as he sent them a mental image of what he wanted. Without hesitation the pair went to work, small paws working swiftly to tear into the grass of the clearing and then the dirt beneath, sending volleys of it flying behind them into the dark.
Patton
Somewhere nearby he heard the sounds of some small creature being torn apart. An owl or some other nightbird hunting, he assumed, since the sound came from above and behind him. Large white ears flickered back towards the sound, but it was a natural enough noise that for the moment he had no reason to question it. Instead he turned his attention back on the foxes who sat on either side of the sticks, regarding him with golden eyes in the night.
Tilting his head the other direction he ordered both foxes to begin digging a hole behind the sticks, pushing with his will to nudge them into action as he sent them a mental image of what he wanted. Without hesitation the pair went to work, small paws working swiftly to tear into the grass of the clearing and then the dirt beneath, sending volleys of it flying behind them into the dark.
