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This is part 1 to the short story "Training Day" that I wrote as both entertainment and as character development for Hazard, Toulia, and Belatrix. The story is split into 3 parts, each with a piece of artwork done by the talented 
Oli_Snowpaw
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"Training Day" Part 1
t was near the end of the first day of orientation and training for the new group of volunteer firefighters. The new group had done as well as could be expected for the first day, nobody expected them to get everything right. They had made mistakes and learned from them, the exercises designed to only bruise and break egos and not flesh and bone.
After a short break the next two instructors walked to the front of the training area, which was little more than a grass field with some collapsible benches. Several fire trucks and trailers carried the gear. The first of the two was a gigantic Unicorn whose body was built like a draft horse, with large white and purple feathering on her arms and legs bound up in caution tape, her hair done in a ponytail. Perhaps she was only gigantic though compared to her co-instructor, a dragon, carrying a clipboard in his hand, with large wings that were stripped yellow and black on the back with red underside, who was several inches shorter than the unicorn. All the newcomers however knew, from the day of training, that it was because the dragon was only about 5' 4” tall. The audience quieted down as the two reached the front.
“OK, I think everyone is rested and ready to continue.” said the Unicorn, “For those who don't know yet, my name is Beletrix.”
“and my name is Hazard.” said the dragon., “That's obviously a nickname, but it's the name everyone calls me by. Raise your hand if you don't know why that's my nickname?”
Nobody in the group raised their hand.
“Good” chuckled Hazard with a low pitched laugh, “You all pass the vision test.”
Chuckles rise from the trainees. A few have confused looks on their faces, to which Hazard continued, “Though some of you appear to have failed the sense of humor test.” More chuckles rose from the group, some of the trainees poking those who clearly did not understand the humor. Beletrix glared at Hazard, her flared nostrils indicating that she was more than a little displeased with him for some reason.
Beletrix faced the trainees and turned things to the serious matters, “Hazard and I have been tasked to talk about something for which there is no standard training manual and that is discussing the strengths and weaknesses of various species in regards to firefighting and rescue. Just looking at the two of us here you should be able to to take a guess at different skills that each of us is good at and bad at just by what species we are. However, in order to be safe and effective, you can't rely on stereotypes, everyone needs to discuss and let people know their individual strengths and weaknesses.
“Some of you will excel at some tasks and be deficient at others solely because of the physical attributes of your species. Other species are far more general, while they don't excel in any one area, they also don't have any serious deficiencies. There is nothing wrong with admitting such, in fact you and your fellow volunteers MUST know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses so you don't accidentally put them or yourselves in danger. Conversely, by knowing who excels at what task means that in a chaotic situation you will be able to immediately determine who should be doing what without being told. Rather than discus theoretical advantages and disadvantages, lets do some practical demonstrations.”
Having said this, Hazard, who had stepped off to the side, dragged a fire hose to Beletrix and handed it to her. Gripping the hose in a firing position on her right side, Beletrix turned perpendicular to the trainees so they could see how she was holding the hose and so she wouldn't hit them with the stream. She then turned her head and explained.
“Several of you are heavy built and have large hooves like I do. This is one of our high pressure hoses. The way this hose and the pump are configured, it would normally need three people to keep it from propelling you across the grass. However, with the right conditions, the proper technique, and enough practice, those of you built like me can handle this by themselves. Note that this only really works when you aren’t wearing hoof boots and may or may not be effective depending on if you wear horseshoes or not and what type they are. I usually don't wear horseshoes or hoof boots unless I absolutely need to” Beletrix balanced herself on her right hoof while showing the class the bottom of her unshooed left hoof before continuing.
“First you take the hoof on the side of you that is holding the hose and put your weight on the front, digging yourself a divot. You then lean forward, kneeling on the leg that has the hoof in the divot and standing on the other like so.” She then proceeded to demonstrate, her large hoof cutting a deep divot into the soft grass. “Now, observe how I am holding the hose as low as possible and tight against my side. My goal is to transfer the recoil the hose generates to my right leg, to my hoof, and to the ground in as straight a line as possible. I cannot let my hoof come out of the divot or my leg to bend at any time while the hose is on or else I'm going to have a very unpleasant ride.”
Beletrix gave a short nod to Hazard, who signaled the pump operator to turn on the water. The hose quickly filled and Beletrix opened the nozzle. Her muscles flexed as she maintained perfect control of the torrent of water. She was pushed back only a few inches, the recoil forcing her right hoof deeper into the soil, anchoring her to the ground and building a little mount of soil behind her left hoof. She traversed the hose back and forth a few degrees, as if dousing an imaginary fire where the water was landing. After about 30 seconds she slowly closed the nozzle and the pump operator shut down the pump. Hazard and two other regular volunteers came up to drag the hose, now full of water and quite heavy, away.
Handing off the hose to them she continued, “This technique effectively makes you a static monitor hose as you can't easily move around with the hose. First off because you'll go flying if you try to do so with the hose on and second because your teammates will have left you to perform other duties and you'll have nobody to help you move it. It is very useful in situation where all you need is a monitor hose, typically where you're simply spraying water in order to contain a fire and keep it from spreading further in the structure or from spreading to neighboring structures. In cases like that you don't need to move around. You can also use this technique in urban areas. Instead of digging your hoof into the ground, resting your hoof against something solid like a curb will serve the same function.”
“Theoretically, those without hooves can use this technique, but it practice it works very poorly as you either have to twist your foot to make proper ground contact if you're a plantigrade and if you're a didgitgrade you typical either can't bend your leg straight enough or don't have the strength in that position to pull it off. Though there have been exceptions. Regardless, do not use this technique unless you've learned it and been given the OK to use it by your superiors. The last thing we need on a call is a casualty and an uncontrolled hose whipping around the scene.”
“Now that we've gone over my particular strengths, strength for pushing, pulling, and ability to handle a two or three man hose by myself in a static position, lets talk weaknesses. First, equines may have strong legs, but they are also surprisingly fragile. It is much easier for us to break a leg than feline or canine species for example, so those species can spent more time searching a smoke filled building and less time trying to not misstep. Also, bare hooves get very poor traction on certain surfaces. I can't push or pull much of anything if I'm standing on a tile floor unless I'm wearing boots to improve my traction. My featherings will burn quite easily unless I keep them covered and protected. On actual calls or practicing on actual fires we have special fire-resistant binding tape for you to use but, as I have done, for practicing technique we can just use whatever is handy. That's a basic rundown for me, now it's Hazard's turn.”
Oli_Snowpaw<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
"Training Day" Part 1
t was near the end of the first day of orientation and training for the new group of volunteer firefighters. The new group had done as well as could be expected for the first day, nobody expected them to get everything right. They had made mistakes and learned from them, the exercises designed to only bruise and break egos and not flesh and bone.
After a short break the next two instructors walked to the front of the training area, which was little more than a grass field with some collapsible benches. Several fire trucks and trailers carried the gear. The first of the two was a gigantic Unicorn whose body was built like a draft horse, with large white and purple feathering on her arms and legs bound up in caution tape, her hair done in a ponytail. Perhaps she was only gigantic though compared to her co-instructor, a dragon, carrying a clipboard in his hand, with large wings that were stripped yellow and black on the back with red underside, who was several inches shorter than the unicorn. All the newcomers however knew, from the day of training, that it was because the dragon was only about 5' 4” tall. The audience quieted down as the two reached the front.
“OK, I think everyone is rested and ready to continue.” said the Unicorn, “For those who don't know yet, my name is Beletrix.”
“and my name is Hazard.” said the dragon., “That's obviously a nickname, but it's the name everyone calls me by. Raise your hand if you don't know why that's my nickname?”
Nobody in the group raised their hand.
“Good” chuckled Hazard with a low pitched laugh, “You all pass the vision test.”
Chuckles rise from the trainees. A few have confused looks on their faces, to which Hazard continued, “Though some of you appear to have failed the sense of humor test.” More chuckles rose from the group, some of the trainees poking those who clearly did not understand the humor. Beletrix glared at Hazard, her flared nostrils indicating that she was more than a little displeased with him for some reason.
Beletrix faced the trainees and turned things to the serious matters, “Hazard and I have been tasked to talk about something for which there is no standard training manual and that is discussing the strengths and weaknesses of various species in regards to firefighting and rescue. Just looking at the two of us here you should be able to to take a guess at different skills that each of us is good at and bad at just by what species we are. However, in order to be safe and effective, you can't rely on stereotypes, everyone needs to discuss and let people know their individual strengths and weaknesses.
“Some of you will excel at some tasks and be deficient at others solely because of the physical attributes of your species. Other species are far more general, while they don't excel in any one area, they also don't have any serious deficiencies. There is nothing wrong with admitting such, in fact you and your fellow volunteers MUST know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses so you don't accidentally put them or yourselves in danger. Conversely, by knowing who excels at what task means that in a chaotic situation you will be able to immediately determine who should be doing what without being told. Rather than discus theoretical advantages and disadvantages, lets do some practical demonstrations.”
Having said this, Hazard, who had stepped off to the side, dragged a fire hose to Beletrix and handed it to her. Gripping the hose in a firing position on her right side, Beletrix turned perpendicular to the trainees so they could see how she was holding the hose and so she wouldn't hit them with the stream. She then turned her head and explained.
“Several of you are heavy built and have large hooves like I do. This is one of our high pressure hoses. The way this hose and the pump are configured, it would normally need three people to keep it from propelling you across the grass. However, with the right conditions, the proper technique, and enough practice, those of you built like me can handle this by themselves. Note that this only really works when you aren’t wearing hoof boots and may or may not be effective depending on if you wear horseshoes or not and what type they are. I usually don't wear horseshoes or hoof boots unless I absolutely need to” Beletrix balanced herself on her right hoof while showing the class the bottom of her unshooed left hoof before continuing.
“First you take the hoof on the side of you that is holding the hose and put your weight on the front, digging yourself a divot. You then lean forward, kneeling on the leg that has the hoof in the divot and standing on the other like so.” She then proceeded to demonstrate, her large hoof cutting a deep divot into the soft grass. “Now, observe how I am holding the hose as low as possible and tight against my side. My goal is to transfer the recoil the hose generates to my right leg, to my hoof, and to the ground in as straight a line as possible. I cannot let my hoof come out of the divot or my leg to bend at any time while the hose is on or else I'm going to have a very unpleasant ride.”
Beletrix gave a short nod to Hazard, who signaled the pump operator to turn on the water. The hose quickly filled and Beletrix opened the nozzle. Her muscles flexed as she maintained perfect control of the torrent of water. She was pushed back only a few inches, the recoil forcing her right hoof deeper into the soil, anchoring her to the ground and building a little mount of soil behind her left hoof. She traversed the hose back and forth a few degrees, as if dousing an imaginary fire where the water was landing. After about 30 seconds she slowly closed the nozzle and the pump operator shut down the pump. Hazard and two other regular volunteers came up to drag the hose, now full of water and quite heavy, away.
Handing off the hose to them she continued, “This technique effectively makes you a static monitor hose as you can't easily move around with the hose. First off because you'll go flying if you try to do so with the hose on and second because your teammates will have left you to perform other duties and you'll have nobody to help you move it. It is very useful in situation where all you need is a monitor hose, typically where you're simply spraying water in order to contain a fire and keep it from spreading further in the structure or from spreading to neighboring structures. In cases like that you don't need to move around. You can also use this technique in urban areas. Instead of digging your hoof into the ground, resting your hoof against something solid like a curb will serve the same function.”
“Theoretically, those without hooves can use this technique, but it practice it works very poorly as you either have to twist your foot to make proper ground contact if you're a plantigrade and if you're a didgitgrade you typical either can't bend your leg straight enough or don't have the strength in that position to pull it off. Though there have been exceptions. Regardless, do not use this technique unless you've learned it and been given the OK to use it by your superiors. The last thing we need on a call is a casualty and an uncontrolled hose whipping around the scene.”
“Now that we've gone over my particular strengths, strength for pushing, pulling, and ability to handle a two or three man hose by myself in a static position, lets talk weaknesses. First, equines may have strong legs, but they are also surprisingly fragile. It is much easier for us to break a leg than feline or canine species for example, so those species can spent more time searching a smoke filled building and less time trying to not misstep. Also, bare hooves get very poor traction on certain surfaces. I can't push or pull much of anything if I'm standing on a tile floor unless I'm wearing boots to improve my traction. My featherings will burn quite easily unless I keep them covered and protected. On actual calls or practicing on actual fires we have special fire-resistant binding tape for you to use but, as I have done, for practicing technique we can just use whatever is handy. That's a basic rundown for me, now it's Hazard's turn.”
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Unicorn
Size 1051 x 1280px
File Size 113.6 kB
Listed in Folders
Thank you.
Artists often look at their older work and cringe, thinking about what they would do diffrently. People who write are the same way. I'll read my stuff and want to change this or that, but I avoid changing anything beyond spelling or punctuation mistakes. I want an accurate look at how far I have or have not improved.
Artists often look at their older work and cringe, thinking about what they would do diffrently. People who write are the same way. I'll read my stuff and want to change this or that, but I avoid changing anything beyond spelling or punctuation mistakes. I want an accurate look at how far I have or have not improved.
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