[T] RoF: Laurence, Bison, Rafal

The morning Calloway, Dane, and young Katherine set out was a good one: The sun dappled purple over the horizon and the gang of Tokotas they had packed up was more than eager to set foot into the wilds. Already Dane knew Bison would have no troubles—nor would his sister, Kitkun, who they were bringing along as… support. Leyron the sphinx was there, too. Though his presence was primarily for training purposes. It was Laurence, Rafal, and Bison who would be judged in this venture.

Bison grunted dismissively in Katherine’s direction. Dane agreed. Bringing a teen girl along had not been in his original plans; but—with April’s unexpected absence, and inability to help pull Katherine through her next couple of Rites any time soon—Dane took charge.

And they brought those extra Tokotas along to help.

They had already passed the first of five inuksuk that lined their path.

After that, their lovely morning made a snap decision: Rain. Cloud cover moved in quickly, which meant it was time to pull out the real compasses, and icy picks of rain pattered against their coats. Lucky the Tokotas were built for the unpredictable mountain weather.

Well.

Most of them.

After Katherine sent some worried glances towards Leyron, Dane dismounted and searched his packs for a rain jacket. He didn’t have anything like that for a Tokota—he didn’t own a sphinx, mainly due to the fact he allowed his Tokotas to weather the climate as their ancestors once did.

Even Calloway pulled Laurence to a halt and started searching.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have brought him…” Katherine’s voice was already heavy with regret. Dane, though, was shaking his head before she even finished.

“Is fine,” he said, “we just have to make some sacrifices.”

“That’s fine?” Calloway’s eyebrow quirked but, much like Dane, he unloaded a couple of spare blankets he had on-hand. Luckily they’d brought plenty, along with insulation layers. “Do you have another hat, Katherine?”

“Uh, yeah,” twisting in the saddle Katherine let her knapsack fall from one shoulder. She quickly produced a second hat. A winter’s hat, but an Alaskan winter’s hat.

Once it was passed down to Calloway, he tugged it over Leyron’s head. The straps were too short to tie under his chin; but once the sphinx’s ears were tucked up under the fabric, the hat pretty well held on itself.

The shiny layer of insulation was strapped to Leyron first, quickly, and then the spare blankets were draped over that and tied on. Dane tightened the straps under the Tokota’s body and around his chest, then stepped back. He had booties on since they left, since they knew it would be quite the trek on near-hairless feet. The layers were somewhat lopsided due to the Tokota’s friendly disposition and tendency to wiggle. The hat was particularly…

Leyron glanced back-and-forth between all three handlers with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He looked as though he was grinning.

“…does anyone have a camera on them?” Dane asked. “I think Maria needs to see this.”

“I think Maria’s going to kill us for this,” Katherine laughed. “He looks ridiculous! I love it.”

“But it’ll keep him warm,” Calloway said. “And dry.”

“Mostly,” Dane agreed. “If we bring him out again, we’re going to have to remember to pack some horse blankets.”

“Or a sweater.”

Dane mounted Bison again. It was strange riding the large male when he was more accustomed to riding slimmer Kitkun; but still. “Tokota sweaters are weird,” he grumbled, swinging the reins to get Bison moving again.

“Really?” Katherine tilted her head and Rafal started up almost immediately, sidling up between Bison and Kitkun, who veered off to the side and then ahead when she was pushed out of the way. “I think they’re kind of cute.”

“You’re a girl.”

“Dane,” Calloway sent him a sideways glare. “Some men like them too, I’m sure.”

To that, Dane was quiet. He hated being corrected, and he hated admitting he was wrong even more. So, to him, it was best to back down by saying nothing.

No one ever said he was agreeable.

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Calloway said after a long moment of silence.

“I know.”

Katherine shrank down against Rafal’s back. Partially this was for comfort—she tried to remember how she ended up paired with these two, this time, instead of just being patient and waiting for Kaelin and April to be available again. Oh right—there were females waiting on Rafal to pass his Rites with the TCA.

Damn.

She turned her attention to the foolish Leyron instead. He was prancing along nearby, and Kitkun had slowed down to shove her nose into his bizarre, makeshift outfit. Even Laurence was tossing glances towards the dopey canine; while Bison pretended like he wasn’t even there. Rafal, on the other hand, reflected the sphinx’s apparent happiness.

Calloway was busy mimicking Bison’s poker face. Laurence was chill, lax. Other than the occasional sidelong glance, he was content to walk alongside the other Tokotas on their journey. Rain or no rain.

“I hope this doesn’t keep up all night,” Katherine muttered. Mostly, she was talking to herself; but this was a concern for her—the sound against the tent would likely keep her up. She admired the wildness of being out here, though preferred being able to actually hear whether or not something was approaching the tent while she slept.

She tried to put that fear out of her mind, too, several hours later when the group were indeed setting up tents and the weather hadn’t let up.

They had Tokotas.

The Tokotas would protect them, or alert them to any dangers.

If Dane’s even thought to stick around!

As soon as Kitkun and Bison were free of saddle, halter, and bags, they bolted out into the slushy darkness. Maybe to hunt. Maybe they’d spotted something—or someone—worth chasing, but their flight took them far enough away that they couldn’t be heard over the rain.

Dane and Calloway both were unconcerned.

Calloway got a fire going in the shelter of some pines. A rare dry spot, just enough to get a small flame crackling. Any warmth, though, was welcome warmth.

Laurence stuck close by, flanking his handler as he went about doing the tasks expected of him. When he finally settled by the fire, the long-mane draped his body around Calloway’s in a semi-circle. Another layer of protection against the chill of nightfall.

Luckily Katherine—smaller than the two men although just as well-dressed—had two Tokotas set on keeping her looked out for. Leyron tried to lay across her lap while Rafal curled around behind her, much like Laurence had.

Dane was less lucky. His two companions were long gone. Yet he didn’t appear bothered by the fact. Rather, he wrapped himself in his sleeping bag and plopped down on the ground like the rest of them, adding some scraps of paper to feed the fire.

He also pulled out a pair of rabbits. They’d been caught earlier, traps Dane had set out and made a mental note to check on their way out. Though his usual traps, they were still caught 100% by him. So they counted as ‘fending for oneself’. And, of course, the others participating in the Rite of Fortitude with him.

“This seems nice for you,” it was difficult to say whether Calloway was joking or not judging by tone alone. He watched Dane one-handedly set a pot above the fire and begin prepping some of the bottled water and broth he had packed before he settled again, this time pulling out a knife to begin skinning the rabbits.

Katherine watched with some horror and some fascination, too.

“You did call me a jerk earlier,” Dane answered. He didn’t seem bothered by the blood draining at his feet, either. “I have to make up for that, obviously.”

“Of course…”

“Besides, one of you can catch tomorrow’s dinner, eh?”

Katherine was silent. She was inexperienced as far as hunting on her own went—it was usually Rafal or one of her other Tokotas that assisted with that. The realization finally hit that they weren’t allowed to.

But Calloway volunteered. “I’ll make sure we have something more than rabbit.”

Dane pointed the knife at Calloway. There was a playfulness to the otherwise threatening gesture, however. “Hey. There may not be a lot of meat on them, but they’re easy enough to carry around. Less of a loss if one is stolen, too.”

“Who would steal one rabbit?” Katherine asked before she could stop herself. Just a thought. Rafal nestled his head under her arm and lapped at Leyron’s face. Leyron leaned so heavily against Katherine in that moment that she fell further into the dense fur of her Tokota. So small, she was, that she was practically absorbed into it. But, hey, it was warm.

“Lots of wild Tokotas out here,” Calloway said.

Dane nodded, going back to work and adding some of the freshly sliced meat to the boiling pot. “The packs will probably leave us alone. They don’t tend to scavenge quite as much as the lone Tokotas, which there are a few of out here. To steal one rabbit, barely a scrap of meat, you’d have to be pretty hungry.”

“Some of these loners are.”

As the meat was left to cook, Laurence grew more interested in it. The stew was beginning to smell like a real meal, and he crept forward on his belly—slightly—and licked his maw.

A sharp howl startled him out of his focus, and Katherine would have jumped if she didn’t have Leyron’s weight holding her down. All three of the remaining Tokotas held their heads high, listening. Laurence even scrambled in the loose ground to sit more upright.

“Relax,” Dane said to Katherine’s wide-eyes. “It’s Kitkun. I know her voice.”

Sure enough, moments later, Bison thundered through the underbrush like the brute he was. He bounded along the outskirts of the campfire, the limp form of something clutched possessively in his jaws.

Kitkun skittered out of the trees and tried to snatch it from him.

Katherine, in the meantime, tried to figure out what it was. A ground squirrel? A fox? A hare…?

Eager for a share of whatever the other two had brought in, Leyron hopped to his feet and joined in the tug-of-war as well. Though it was over food, the game seemed good-natured and all the Tokotas involved appeared happy. It wasn’t a real conflict, in spite of the growling.

“You are such a bastard,” Dane muttered as Bison yanked the thing free and trotted passed him, coming close enough to Rafal that he was able to snatch at the catch as well.

“What do they have?” Calloway asked.

“He’s got a wolverine.”

Compared to the prey, the scratches on the two Tokotas were nothing but minor. They must have caught it by surprise.

Laurence stood as Bison dragged Rafal towards him. All the long-mane needed to do was let out a few deep barks, a couple of huffs, and Bison stopped with their faces right next to one another. The burly brown Tokota rumbled even lower.

Normally Dane would intervene, but they had to take care of themselves. If that meant outright thievery, the Tokotas had to be left to duke it out. Judging by their Rite of Merit results, Laurence could very well hold his own against a bully like Bison.

But other than throw his weight around, Bison had never once legitimately harmed another Tokota, or a human. So while the stare down was intense, it wasn’t enough even for Rafal to release his stubborn hold on the wolverine.

Kitkun and Leyron stood quietly in the shadows, Kitkun almost invisible save for the fiery reflection in her eyes, as they waited for the results. Both would suck-up to whomever ended up ‘owning’ that meal. Otherwise they wouldn’t eat. They knew it.

Laurence snorted. He barked again, rumbling along with it, and Bison’s ears flicked.

His stance seemed to relax, and when Laurence made to grab the wolverine Bison didn’t pull away. He tugged only once Laurence had a decent hold of it, and the tugging was meant to pull the thing into edible scraps for each one of them. Kitkun made her choice and hopped over to beg the kinder Laurence for some mouthfuls while Leyron took to joining Rafal in trying to steal the butt-end of the animal from Bison.