literature

A Flying Reindeer on the Lake

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Bron let out a sigh as he set down his paintbrush and wiping his hands on one of the rags whose express purpose was to clean his hands or brushes.  He glanced at the painting in front of him, before setting the cloth down and covering the paints to preserve them.  It was early, and he was supposed to meet up with Rikta and Veng that morning to head out on their final trip to try and find some of Santa’s missing Reindeer.  The trio had already made two trips out into the wild to try and capture some of the escapees, but some of the animals were still unaccounted for.  Grabbing his pack from one of the corners in the room he quietly slipped out the door, and with one last glance at the painting sitting on his easel he carefully closed the door behind him.

He quickly moved through his house, making sure not to wake his father, the chief of the village, before exiting the building and heading towards the shelter where the village’s tokotas stayed.  While walking through the village he soon heard footsteps behind him and paused to look back at Rikta, who was carrying her own pack as she too trudged through the snow.  Her blue eyes looked at him, and she gave him a short smile and wave as she moved to walk next to him.  They both walked towards the shelter when they paused.  An unknown tokota was laying in the snow near the building.

Aspen’s pale yellow-green eyes locked on the two people approaching, and she stood while letting out a short, low-pitched bark.  Her ears twitched uncertainly as the duo approached, but she did not show any signs of aggression or fleeing.  But at the sound of the door to the shelter opening she turned her head to look at the figure wrapped in a mottled gray and black coat step out of the building, Veng walking out right behind her.

Bron and Rikta paused a few feet from the stranger, whose hood was pulled up over their head, but looked at Veng when she said:

“Bron, Rikta, this is Ascerbus, she helps run The Den and works with my tokotas back south.”  The duo looked at each other before Rikta moved forward to shake the tall woman’s hand.  Ascerbus removed her hood before stepping forward to accept the gesture, her long, dark brown hair hanging over her shoulders as her rust-orange eyes met the other woman’s blue ones.

“It is a pleasure,” she said, her deep voice smooth like water as she looked at Bron as he moved forward to shake hands as well.  Introductions finished she stepped back a few steps until Aspen moved to her side, pale eyes watching everything wearily, while one ear remained facing towards the shelter, where the riders could hear their tokotas moving inside.  Letting out a sigh Veng looked up at Bron and Rikta before explaining:

“Evidently I need to head back south, there is someone I need to meet, and since Ara is ready to go, and is starting to get annoyed with being cooped up I figured I shouldn’t refuse the summoning.  However, I didn’t want to leave you guys short-handed if possible, and Ascerbus said she would be willing to stay and help.

Bron looked at Rikta before looking at Ascerbus, who was still calmly running her hands through the graying tokota’s mane.  The female looked to be nervous and uncomfortable, but when he looked into her eyes he could see she was watching and calculating his every movement, and the way she looked at him he could tell she was quite intelligent.  Despite that though, he could also tell that she was tired, so when he looked at Veng he said: “That should be fine, although it would be best if she could ride Nehemiah, it would be unfair to leave him out at this point, and it looks like her tokota could use a rest as well.”

Aspen flattened her ears at the comment, but Ascerbus just ruffled the bit of mane that hung over her head before whispering: “You know he is right, and I would rather not run you into the ground,” then out loud to reply to Bron, “That is alright with me, you are right in that Aspen could use the rest.”

Rikta nodded at the tall woman before saying: “We should get going then, Santa needs his missing pets before tomorrow after all.”  She moved and shook hands with Veng before moving into the shelter.  Bron quickly followed, and shook Veng’s hand as well before moving in to saddle Cleo.  The half-mane female wagged her tail in a friendly manner; she was happy and ready to go.  Bron smiled at her as he set down his pack and grabbed the female tokota’s gear, his gaze briefly seeking out Rikta before he got to work.

The woman was standing next to Cikuq, hands on her hips as she looked at the female tokota.  Cikuq was laying on the ground, her eyes closed as she feigned sleep, although her twitching ears gave her away.  Although she was somewhat infamous for being a trouble-maker she had been behaving for the past few days, and Rikta had thought they had made a break-through.  Although it seemed that for some reason she was not in the mood to behave this morning.

“”Come on now, we have work to do,” the woman said, as she prodded the tokota with her foot, “today’s the last one, then you can have a few days off you lazy fur-ball.” Cikuq cracked on eye open at the last part, but her gaze soon shifted behind her trainer, who turned to look at what had her mount so in-character.  Aralakk, the large tawny tokota that Veng had arrived on, was standing there, her muzzle was pointed towards the door, but her eyes were on Cikuq.

Letting out a sigh Rikta moved to block her tokota’s view and forced her to pay attention to her before saying: “Look at me.  We need to get going, and when I come back with your tack, you’d better be up and ready for me to get it all settled.  That tokota isn’t going to bother you.  In fact, she is leaving the village this morning as well, as soon as we take off and there is enough space for Veng to get her ready.”  Cikuq raised her head as Rikta walked away, and, understanding that Ara would be gone by the time they returned, she stood up and shook her body as if she was shedding water, a small amount of dust dislodging itself from her coat as she did so.  The tokota’s blue eyes seemed to laugh at the visiting tokota before her gaze shifted to her rider, who had returned with her tack, and after a quick brush-down Rikta saddled up the tokota and led her out of the shelter.

Ascerbus, who had just finished talking with Veng, slipped into the shelter, leaving Aspen to lay down outside while she looked over at Bron.  The woman looked over at Ara, who wagged her tail once and lowered her head a little in respect, before making eye contact with Nehemiah.  The male tokota cocked his head at her, but wagged his tail as she calmly and carefully approached him.  Nehemiah sniffed the open palm that she offered him before she started to scratch him behind the ears.  Her eyes looked him over quickly before she moved to grab a brush and gave him a quick yet thorough brush-down before grabbing his tack off the wall.  She looked at it with the briefest look of distaste in her eyes, but it was a matter of only a few minutes before she lead Nehemiah out of the shelter.  Bron had already left with Cleo, and he and Rikta were waiting outside, standing next to their mounts.

With a last, quick wave to the three of them, Veng disappeared into the shelter, and the three riders quickly mounted their tokotas, each of them swinging into their saddles in a practiced, fluid motion.  Then, after a short pause, Bron lead the way out of the village on Cleo.  Rikta and Cikuq followed him, with Ascerbus and Nehemiah taking up the rear.

Then, not even five minutes later, Cleo skid to a halt, her gaze jerking upwards as she let out a short growl.  Cikuq immediately did the same, while Nehemiah skidded to a stop next to them, his brown eyes looking at his companions before following their gaze upwards.

“I can’t believe this,” Bron said, a sigh of exasperation leaving his throat as he watched a reindeer fly over-head.  The animal was headed south, and as soon as it noticed that the group had noticed it, the reindeer picked up its speed.  Cleo, without any instruction, immediately took off in pursuit, Cikuq on her heels while their riders streamlined themselves to make it easier for their mounts to run.  Nehemiah, with Ascerbus on his back, was not far behind, his brown eyes lit with excitement.

The riders followed the ungulate for a about a mile or so before they dropped their pace to a steady lope.  They all tried to keep the escapee in their sights, the tokota’s breaths fogging up the air as they ran, their muscles moving in a steady, smooth motion beneath their skin.  They were settled into their pace, and it was one that could be kept up for miles.  But luckily for them, they didn’t have to prove it, for as they approached a large, frozen lake the reindeer started to lose altitude.  It was tiring, and it had soon landed on the icy surface, skidding a bit before continuing its run towards the trees.  Without hesitation, Cikuq and Cleo ran out onto the ice, their claws digging in to help them keep their balance and motion on the slippery surface.

However, Ascerbus turned Nehemiah, encouraging the tokota to pick up his speed as he nearly sprinted around the edge of the lake, and he happily complied.  His rider was balanced precisely in the best way for him to run freely, at least as much as he could with the saddle.  Panting, he glanced back at her with his brown eyes to see her long hair streaming out behind her, before looking forward at the reindeer again.  It was about a quarter of the way from the edge of the lake, since it was having a hard time with the ice.  The tokotas who were chasing it however, were nearly half-way over.

Cleo and Cikuq were not sliding as much as the reindeer in front of them, but their pace had slowed in order for them to keep themselves from slipping and falling on the ice.  Bron glanced over at Rikta, before seeing her look at something running along the shore-line with her blue eyes.  He shifted his gaze to look at what she had been observing, only to see Nehemiah running along the edge of the shore. The male tokota and his rider were farther along than they were, although with the curve of the lake he guessed it would be a near thing for them to cut off the reindeer, which is what he assumed was Ascerbus’ goal.  Smiling to himself he switched his gaze forward, and made sure to keep his balance atop his mount.

Cikuq was panting as she ran as quickly as she dared across the ice, one of her feet slipping every once in a while as she ran.  As soon as the reindeer had landed, her natural prey-drive had kicked in, and all of her attention was focused purely on her target.  She could barely register the signals that Rikta was giving her, although somehow she managed to subconsciously keep tabs on her rider.

Rikta’s attention was constantly switching between the reindeer ahead of them and her mount.  She knew Cikuq was whole-heartedly focused on catching the ungulate ahead of them, but she knew that it would be up to her to keep the tokota from accidentally hurting the animal.  Her hands tightened subconsciously at the challenge as they raced forward.

Cleo glanced sideways at Cikuq, taking in her fellow tokota’s expression and realizing the female tokota was entirely focused on their target.  Making a mental note to herself that she may have to help keep the other tokota from accidentally harming the reindeer her gaze shifted to the movement along the lake’s edge.  Her blue eyes widened slightly as she saw Nehemiah running full-tilt along the edge, his rider’s cloak looking akin to wings as it flapped in the air over and behind him.  She quickly realized what the woman was thinking, and after taking a quick, calculating glance at the reindeer running in front of her she let out a short bark as a signal to her rider before she turned slightly, nearly slipping in the process but managing to keep her feet, before resuming her run.

Bron shifted his weight according to the change in direction his mount took before settling into his original place as she straightened out.  Looking up he realized what she was thinking as she ran at a slight angle away from Cikuq, and correspondingly a bit further up the bank from where Nehemiah would most likely either intercept the reindeer or force it to try and make the bank just ahead of them.

Rikta looked up and glanced briefly at Bron as he and Cleo started to drift away from them.  It took her a second to realize what they were planning, then turned her attention back to her mount. The woman was afraid the tokota was getting more and more narrow minded the closer they drew to their target.

When only two hundred yards remained between Ascerbus and the projected point where the reindeer would reach the land the woman urged Nehemiah into a flat-out sprint.  Panting he rushed forward, his large paws crushing the snow beneath his bulk as he reached forward with his forelegs and drove hard with his hind, the tokota’s powerful muscles propelling him forward.  The reindeer, seeing the male tokota flying from the side tried to change its angle as it realized Nehemiah was going to beat it there.  Then, it came to a sliding halt a few yards from edge as it saw Cleo coming up on its side.  Panting, it dropped its head as it looked around for an escape route.

Cikuq, seeing the reindeer come to a halt lunged forward, her eyes locked on the animal.  Rikta hauled on the reins and threw her weight to the side, forcing the tokota to change her angle and miss the reindeer in order to keep from slipping onto her side.  Gasping the woman shouted to Bron, who already had a rope in hand.  He easily tossed it towards the reindeer, bringing it tight around the base of the ungulate’s antlers.

Growling Cikuq turned to leap at the reindeer again, only to be knocked over from the side by Nehemiah.  The shock of the blow brought the female tokota to her senses, although she was soon growling in irritation at the male, who was wagging his tail in an appeasing manner.  He had just reacted to the directions of Ascerbus, who, realizing that Cikuq was pretty much experiencing tunnel vison, had decided that the best course of action to quickly clear her head was to get her attention elsewhere.

Rikta groaned as she held onto the saddle when Cikuq regained her feet.  Luckily the woman had heard Ascerbus call a warning and seen Nehemiah barreling towards them and was able to brace herself for the impact, but it had still roughed her up a bit.

“Hey, could I get a little help over here?” Bron called to the two woman as Cleo dodged out of the way of the Reindeer, which had charged her when it realized the rope that was preventing it from escaping was attached to the rider on her back.  With a short apology to Rikta, Ascerbus pulled a rope from her saddle and quickly guided Nehemiah with her legs into a position where she was able to get the rope secured around the same place as Bron’s.  Now, whenever the reindeer tried to attack one of them, the other’s rope kept it away.

“Alright, let’s get this thing back,” Rikta grumbled before continuing, “and get me some ice, I’m going to be sore after today.”

Bron let loose a short laugh before turning Cleo, whose tail was wagging happily, to walk along the shore-line of the lake.  He’d had enough time on the ice for his own liking.  Cikuq glared at Nehemiah, although her ire was directed more at Ascerbus, since the male tokota had merely followed the woman’s guidance.  The female tokota’s pride was hurt, but Rikta was not letting the tokota get away from her again, as she gave a warning tug on the tokota’s mane.

“Behave yourself,” she said under her breath.  She knew it was going to be a long trip home between the angry reindeer and the more than displeased tokota beneath her.
3rd Reindeer Roundup for :iconeverlastingstables:


Link to import sheet: Cleo 816 by TotemSpirit
Link to hunting/expedition/summary journal:
ELS's Hunt/Explore/Fishing Journal

Link to import sheet: Nehemiah 1180 by TotemSpirit
Link to hunting/expedition/summary journal:
ELS's Hunt/Explore/Fishing Journal

Link to import sheet:Cikuq 503 by TotemSpirit
Link to hunting/expedition/summary journal:
ELS's Hunt/Explore/Fishing Journal

Hp Calculation:
Word Count - 2878, at 1HP per 200words
2878/200 = Approx 14HP
Exploration Bonus - +2
Total = 16HP per tokota

Bron, Rikta, Cleo, Cikuq, and Nehemiah belong to EverlastingStables
Veng, Ascerbus, Aralakk, and Aspen belongs to Me
© 2014 - 2024 Avalonfang4
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