Spirits in the mist - Taming WM18 (1)

Once a thief, always a thief... Dante smiled to himself, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he ran his hand along the neck of the Tokota beside him. He had acquired the black half mane while scouting, and no one had come to claim him so... He figured that he should keep him. For the poor thing's safety, of course. Couldn't let him wander alone in the wilderness after all.  

It had taken a few days for the man to trust the beast. It had shown caution but no aggression towards him. In fact it seemed quite glad to be back with human company, so this was not a wild Tokota that had been wandering the forest. It belonged to someone, but they were careless, and it had gotten loose. Perhaps it had been spooked by the storm that had passed through recently? But their loss was his gain, and he wasn't going to turn his nose up at a free Tokota. It wasn't a very moral decision to keep the animal for himself, but then again, his moral compass was anyone's guess... so none of that really mattered, did it?

After a week or so, Dante figured that if the animal was going to attack him, it would have done so already, so he grew more bold and attempted to mount up. Riding would allow the pair to cover much more distance than at a walking pace. At first the black Tokota was reluctant to accept him as a rider, he was skittish, and scared of what the human was trying to do in case this was a form of attack. Particularly as he was used to being ridden only while wearing tack, not bareback as Dante was forced to do. He was travelling in the wilderness after all, he didn't carry around tack he didn't need. But he didn't mean the Tokota any harm, and after a little while, it seemed to realise this and allowed him onto its back.

The travelling went much smoother after that. Dante had given the black half mane the name “Crow” after his shimmering black fur. It reminded him of the plumage of a crow, so it was good enough a name for him. Together, the pair crossed several packs' territories, until they were forced to stop in the Yakone pack lands to rest. In the Kesuk Bay they made their camp, just in the shadows of the trees, but with the sands of the shore ahead of them. The water lapped gently at the beach, the sun setting behind the trees and illuminating the water. Just briefly, as the sun dipped below the horizon, did Dante catch a glimpse of a white Tokota amongst the trees, before it disappeared once again into the darkness.

It was an intriguing sight... one that awoke the handler's curiosity, and made him stay another night at the Bay in case it showed up again. Tokota by his side, Dante settled into his camp, watching the trees across the water for the white Tokota to show itself again, but it did not come.

That third day, a mist rolled in from the ocean, consuming everything in its path until Dante could barely see the other side of his camp through it. His guard up, he stayed close to Crow's side, knowing that the Tokota could sense danger even better than he could... A mist like this could very easily conceal an ambush, but that wasn't the only thing it could conceal.

If he squinted a little, Dante could just barely see shapes moving in the mist around them. They were open with their movements, so this wasn't an attack, but still he was nervous. Crow growled low in his throat, his ears flicking back against his head as he watched them move around them. Though Dante knew that the black Tokota was all bark and no bite... If these creatures really were just toying with them before they moved in to strike, then they were done for...

A white shape moved closer to them, its body much more clear at this distance. It was a Tokota, possibly the same one from before. Its pelt was white, body showing the unfamiliar signs of albinism, and the even more unfamiliar fur of a barbary Tokota. Dante was transfixed by it. There was just something about the beast that held his attention. Not the fur, or the scars that marred its body, but the very air that the animal had about it. It was luck, both good and bad, and trouble, as if the animal attracted it or was attracted to it. The thought alone should have repelled the handler, but for whatever reason, he sympathised with it. He knew what it was like to be down on your luck, and to have to create your own, and perhaps that was why it had seeked him out.

For now, Crow remained quiet, simply watching the albino Tokota in front of him, and the shapes of the Tokotas behind him. When another emerged, his fur bristled a little, his tail flicking, though he didn't rise to his paws, instead staying low with his new handler. The second Tokota, another male, had an orange hue to its pelt. Bearmarks streaked across its mane, and its amber eyes looked bleak and unforgiving in the fog, despite the hint of warmth that Dante was certain that was typically present there. It was almost as though the fog had pulled the pack in, like calling spirits to ward off strangers to the land.

Dante was afraid. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest as the albino Tokota drew nearer still, its clouded breath swirling so close to his face that even through the fog he could see it. The beast's eyes stared into his own, the blue meeting his red, and simply holding the gaze as if searching his soul.

Then, as quickly as they had appeared, the Tokotas left. First went the brown, its bearmarked flank disappearing into the mist to join the rest of the pack, then went the albino, which cast the handler one last look before it too disappeared. Crow huffed lightly, as if letting out the breath he had been holding, and then placed his head down onto the handler's lap. Gently running his hand over the Tokota's cheek, Dante breathed out his own sigh of relief, though the chills that had been running through his spine stayed with him well into the night, when the sun became the moon, and the stars shone above them. The water of the bay glistened in the light, each wave carrying the light of the stars onto the shore with them.

Only the lapping of the water, and the soft breathing of Crow were breaking the otherwise silence of the bay, but then just as Dante set his head down to sleep, and closed his eyes... a howl sounded from the forest around them. It was the pack, there was no doubt about that. Although this time the knowledge that they were nearby didn't unnerve the handler, in fact it brought a smile to his lips, because they had every chance to harm him and they did not.

So with the pack watching over them, both Tokota and handler slept well that night. Tomorrow was another day, and the search for the pack would continue, though for now both were confident that they would be safe while they rested, under the bright moon and the piercing blue eyes of that albino.
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HP -
Word count (1261) - 6HP
Handler bonus - 2HP
Non commissioned bonus - 1HP

Total - 9HP