HOME | DD
ClockworkDoge — [Tokos] Reintroductions
Published: 2017-11-30 15:33:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 295; Favourites: 3; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }
4,021 Words
---
Katherine didn’t know what to make of what was going on downstairs. The words were jumbled and spoken through thick wooden flooring, so she wasn’t able to understand everything that was going on in the living room downstairs. What she did know, was that Dane and April had returned after months and months of being away. She glared at the ground, the young teen biting the inside of her cheek as emotions filled her to the brim.
She knew she could walk down there and join in with the conversation, found out why they had been gone for so long, why they didn’t send them a letter, a message, something… She sniffed. A watery sound as she bared her teeth in a move that was much like a Tokotas. With a heavy shake of her head, she turned her back on the door of her bedroom. Eyes finding the window she locked her jaw and made her way towards it.
Katherine wouldn’t often sneak out- considering Maria was pretty lax and Katherine wasn’t the most social in her age group. (i.e. meaning she had no friends her own age) Which was more than likely the reason Dane (and April) disappearing on them was hitting her so hard. Flinging her window open she climbed out, keeping her hands steady she hoisted herself through and made it towards the old horse box that was located a few feet to the left of her room. Nails digging into the roof as she went she made it safely to the truck. With a sigh, she hopped off the truck and onto the ground. Content in knowing that she hadn’t be found out. By a human that is.
Ahote had instantly clocked his human when she ventured from her room. Rising to his feet, he trotted over to her, tail wagging as he nuzzled her face. humming in delight when she affectionately petted him back. Though, even he could notice the mood she was in. So, once he had his pets he backed off. Content in following her to the little shack/tepee that they had made that summer. Though on there way towards the shack they had attracted even more attention.
Leyron.
The brown sphinx had just come out of the stalls when he noticed the pair. And with an excited bark proceeded to follow after them, thin tail wagging out behind him.
Although Ahote’s movement did catch Diesel’s attention, the piebald dire continued to lay--floppy--just outside the door of the house. His eyes were the only part of him that shifted, following the brown barbary as he disappeared around the side. Trucker, on the other hand, perked right up. For a moment he stayed--as it was habit for him to remain close to Diesel--but at Leyron’s bark and similar disappearance around the side of the house, Trucker got to his feet and padded after them. Diesel boofed, lifting his head, before he too rose to lumber after his companion and the other two.
Dane heard Diesel. Somewhat on-edge, relaxed now that they’d told what they needed to tell but still fidgety, Dane got up and headed to the window, mostly to check that the males weren’t starting another spat with Ahote. By that point, though, he couldn’t see them.
He sighed. “I’ll be right back.” Pulling on his coat and boots, he headed outside to track Trucker and Diesel down; leaving April to continue prodding Maria for updates. Or teasing her and Lucus. Whichever. She was good for that.
It didn’t take Katherine long to reach the shack, a huff and a slump and she sat on the floor outside of it. There were scattered logs all around, a makeshift camp fire and Maria’s attempt on making every summer day and night, a good one. Bringing her knees to her chest, Katherine rested her chin on her knees.
Ahote was quick to move to her side, curling around her and acting like a cushion. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with his human (not being that intuitive) but he knew something was bugging her. And the only way he believed he could make her feel better was to provide affection. Which he was pretty good at.
Leyron on the other hand, good at affection, not good at reading the scene. The sphinx brute trotted into the clearing with a wagging tail. Oblivious to the forms following after him. It was only when Ahote raised his head to look at the newcomers did he notice. A yelp and an off-pitch bark slipped past Leyron’s maw as he turned and eyed Trucker and Diesel. Not aggressively- oh no, there wasn’t an aggressive bone in his body. Though he was curious why they were there, who they were. So, with an excited butt wriggle he bounded over to the two. Headbutting the dire’s shoulder as he pawed playful at Trucker.
Trucker sidestepped indignantly at Leyron’s touchiness, snorting a bit and curling his lip silently. Not entirely threatening, but just a slight bit of warning in case the sphinx decided to turn aggressive. But Trucker did pause to investigate Leyron, sniffing at his face and cautious after the kind of attitude the yeti had shown him when they first arrived. Diesel happily circled Leyron after the head-bump, then continued on his way to where Kat and Ahote now sat. His short tail swayed and his ears flicked, and once he reached the unfamiliar girl he immediately began sniffing and snuffing at her hair and clothes.
“Be nice, Trucker,” Dane was pulling on the last of his gloves as he came around the side of the house, icy eyes falling first on the grey half-mane’s rigid stance over Leyron. The sphinx was deaf, Dane knew, so any growling--if Trucker decided to growl, which so far he hadn’t--would have gone unnoticed and could have put Leyron in a vulnerable position. Dane made sure to pat Trucker on the rump, though, to reward him for not snarling and biting.
That’s when he noticed Katherine. He took a deep breath, but he didn’t approach the girl, the dire, or the barbary tokota just yet.
“Hey! Diesel. You’re bein’ invasive,” he called out.
Immediately, as if he’d been shot, Diesel flopped heavily onto a hip, then his side, and rolled belly-up and still. Like playing dead in slow-motion. Tongue lolling out of his mouth and everything, and too slobbery for his own good. Or to make his feigned death believable.
When Dane appeared around the corner, Katherine entire body froze and tensed. A frown pulled at her lips though the look didn’t last long, not considering Diesel’s face was suddenly in her own. Cold nose touching her cheeks, nose and forehead. Breathing hot air out on her. She giggled, because, how couldn’t she? Reaching up a hand she pets down his muzzle, though pauses when Dane calls out to him. The dire going limp and rolling onto his back when he does.
Ahote moved behind her, creeping forward to nose at the Diesel’s cheek, poking and prodding in an affectionate manner that he was known for. Katherine laughed again, shaking her head, not being able to resist scratching at the strange dires belly.
She stopped soon though, hand stilling and looking up and over at the half mane and sphinx. Trucker had a tense posture and Leyron was nothing more than a bumbling pup. For someone that had his status of dominant he was still in his puppy phase. Katherine was positive he would never grow out of it.
Keeping an eye on the pair- just in case- she turned back to Dane. The smile and laughter that was once on her lips was gone, nothing more than a blank look that was so hard to hold. She wanted to glare at him, frown, poke out her tongue scream and yell. But stuck between two Tokotas she could do no more than passively aggressive pet Diesel and lean back into Ahote’s side.
Well… she wasn’t running away, so with a slight sigh—just to release some of the tension he was feeling—Dane stepped away from Trucker and Leyron, walking over to stand by Katherine, Ahote, and Diesel. He kept a ‘safe’ distance, of course. Because he had no idea how mad or not she was going to be. The temptation to say long time, no see was there but, for the better, he ignored it and chose his words more carefully.
Diesel, meanwhile, enjoyed Katherine’s scratches and belly-rubs and eventually rolled upright; bopping Ahote on the head with one of his huge paws. He let it slide to the ground, then bumped the barbary with the other.
Trucker continued investigating Leyron until he decided there was nothing else to sniff off him. He trailed behind Dane, though when Dane stopped Trucker didn’t, and he walked right up to Katherine’s boots before eyeing Diesel’s ridiculous behaviour vacantly.
“You know, I would’ve been around if I could’ve,” Dane said, quietly. Probably not the smartest of ways to put it, but… it was still true. “And you’re allowed to be upset with me, and you don’t have to listen to me if you don’t want to.”
He paused.
“But… if you do, maybe we should take a walk?”
A walk…? A walk. After months and months and months of not seeing him he was asking he if she wanted to take a walk.
She opens her mouth to snap at him, but pauses instead. Biting her tongue and offering him a sharp nod of agreement.
A walk may be good actually.
Before she could get up however Trucker was on her, and man what was with these Tokotas today? Did she smell like treats or something? She sighed, shaking her head but lightly petted his muzzle even if she wasn’t in the mood. Slowly, as not to stand on any stray paws, she rose to her feet. gently moving Diesel’s head out of the way, as she stepped over Ahote’s behind to have more space to sort herself out.
Hands brushing down her jean clad legs she, looked up at Dane. Blinking, once, twice, before she was interrupted by the smiling face of Leyron. It took willpower not to laugh outright at the sphinx, because he really didn’t know how to read a situation.
She managed though.
Because there was no way that she was ready for… whatever this walk was going to be.
Still wasn’t running away.
“You stay,” Dane commanded Diesel, who huffed but—reluctantly—placed his huge head on his forepaws and didn’t bother getting up; eyes turning as he watched them. “You have too much energy, come on,” he grabbed Trucker under the muzzle and pulled the half-mane into following them before dropping his hand, and stuffing both into his coat pockets. It wasn’t really like he and April had ‘defined’ tokotas anymore; so it really didn’t matter which he brought with them. But Trucker was slighter and faster, and he needed to drain some of his pent-up aggression.
Dane, of course, paced himself to Katherine and Ahote. If she wanted to ride that was fine, but Dane was going to stay on the ground. And whether Leyron decided to follow or not, he left between the sphinx and Kat.
Honestly… Dane wasn’t exactly ready to tell the story all over again, though he knew he would have to. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, but… first, Lucus says you got into the gallery?”
The least he could do was draw some attention to her. Away from himself. Maybe it would work and maybe it would fall flat, but he needed a few breaths before just jumping into more heartbreak again.
Katherine felt it building up inside of her chest, the more they walked, each step she took, then he spoke, and a scoff fell from her lips before she could think it through. “Yeah.” She bluntly replied, jaw locked and doing her best just to not—crumble.
“Life’s been great.”
Oh no.
She couldn’t.
“Just fan-fucking-tastic.”
Yep, she was doing it.
Ahote slowed his walk, keeping in step with Katherine, but noticeably putting himself in between her and Dane, because something just wasn’t right, and he didn’t understand, but he could feel it. He glanced over to Trucker to see if he knew but the half mane was too busy looking around as they walked through the trees. The orange and reds of the leaves on the ground glinting back at him, and he whined. Head turning, he looked over his shoulder to look back at Diesel and Leyron, the pair not moving away from the shack and for a moment Ahote felt jealous. He whined again, shoving his head onto Katherines shoulder only to be tentatively pushed away.
Guilt filled Katherine for a moment, because it wasn’t Ahote’s fault, but she was just so… angry.
“I managed to get a few of my photos up, just great,” Her tone dripped with sarcasm and anger, and sadness and all the emotions she had managed to bury down deep a few months ago. She felt her hands start to shake, and tears pierced the corners of her eyes. “Shame you weren’t able to come along, real shame.”
Don’t say anything, Dane constantly repeated to himself. He told her it was fine to be angry—and she sure as hell didn’t need his permission to be—so he wasn’t allowed to go back on that now, even if the sarcasm and bitterness stung.
It only stung because she was right, anyways.
Instead he just listened, keeping his eyes ahead—mostly on Trucker, who was weaving through the trees with only the occasional twist of an ear backwards, particularly at the harshness in the young girl’s tone—though Dane did have to avoid accidentally stepping on Ahote’s paws when the barbary wedged between him and Kat.
He waited until there was a long enough pause for him to speak, pressing his thumb into the corner of his eye to snub any watering. He felt the heat of tears, but now was not the time and he forced them back—either with a hand or willfully.
“It is,” he said. “I would have loved to see what you did.”
Don’t fucking cry, Dane.
Ahead, Trucker paused. The half-mane glanced over his shoulder, eyes flicking between Kat, Dane, and then landing on Ahote right in the middle of them. He chuffed at Ahote. Beckoning him, not because he found anything particularly interesting to investigate; but because he could sense the little storm brewing between Kat and Dane—and he doubted Ahote wanted to get an earful in the middle of that. It was a kind gesture on the part of Trucker; but he was not a mean spirited tokota by any stretch… he was just a bit sketchy.
“And I didn’t, and that’s my own fault,” he continued, “and I should have done or said something before. We just…” he was shaking his head.
Why was it so hard? He’d already told the story to Maria and Lucus. He’d already lived it, which was one worse than that. And of everyone, Dane felt he owed his explanation to Kat more than the others. Sure he was friends with them, but April was far closer to Maria and Lucus both. Also entirely Dane’s fault for dedicating more time to teaching Kat how to hunt and track, but Maria and Lucus didn’t need that sort of mentorship. And Dane kind of sucked at the friendship thing.
“Any reason is the wrong reason to have missed the days I promised you, Kat. Especially without letting you know where I was going to begin with.”
“I-It’s not about promising me anything!” Katherine spat, words watery and eyes to match. “I-I’m not, I t-thought! I thought you were dead, you were just gone, and I wrote, and you never replied!”
How did he expect her to understand that? How could he do that? She couldn’t understand, she didn’t want to understand. Gripping her arms tightly, she rubbed up and down. Forgetting her jacket had been a mistake, but she had panicked when she had heard April and Dane downstairs, so she bolted, and now she was regretting it because the wind was starting to pick up and she couldn’t help but think it was ironic.
“I don’t care about the reason, I care that you just never…” Her voice wobbled. “I thought…”
And then Ahote was gone, and that wall between them was gone and she stopped walking. Chin tilted to her chest as she fought back the urge to cry.
“I thought I would never see you again…”
Ahote hesitated to carry on moving when the humans stopped, but with some gentle- not really gentle- prompting from Trucker he carried on, only sending a woefully sad glance over his shoulder as he ventured deeper into the woods.
“And you can’t just come back, and—like nothing happened, but it did and you left and I don’t know how to-“ Her words came out jumbled, sentences starting but never finishing. Katherine was usually good with emotions, but this, this was just too much.
Dane exhaled slowly, loud and deliberate.
As Ahote caught up to him, Trucker urged the other male further into the trees—steering him down into a ditch, a dried-up creek-bed full to the brim with fallen and colourful leaves, to roam elsewhere. If they had any luck, perhaps they could scrounge up something for the small, upset human. Once more he chuffed, tail held high and swaying as he put his nose to the ground and began to sniff for anything interesting: Trinkets. Things lost by hikers. Old socks. Squirrels. Whatever.
“I know, Kat,” Dane frowned. He peeled off his own coat without thinking about it, and knowing full well Kat would not take it if he offered, he simply swung it around her and bundled her in it himself. He crouched down. Kat was too tall for it to be necessary, but with her looking towards the ground like that, it was the only position in which he could actually see her face. “If I’d been able to receive the letters, I would’ve replied… you know that—you know me.”
And I wouldn’t just disappear.
But I did.
He jumped, startled briefly, by the sound of Trucker’s excited howl from down in the ditch. Whatever he’d found, he was excited about it—though, when it came down to it, there really was nothing terribly exciting for a human down there. The half-mane had seen a rabbit skitter across their path; and while he wasn’t keen on hunting, he was happy to egg Ahote into chasing it with him.
“I don’t expect you to take this well,” he said. “I don’t expect anything…” for a second he dropped his head, just to press against his eyes again before he looked up at Kat again. “Listen,” even if he’d put the tears at bay for now, the tremble in his voice was giving him away. “Us disappearing was my fault. And I don’t think there are enough ‘I’m sorry’s to ever make up for it. If you’re willing to let me explain, I’ll tell you exactly why I didn’t get your letters, Kat.”
Ahote chuffed at Trucker, falling the half mane down the ditch, pressing his front paws heavily into the dirt to stop himself from just slipping and sliding right on down. when the smell of salt filled his senses he paused, turning back to face the way they came with a torn expression on his face. he wanted to go back and comfort his human- both of his humans- because even though he was Kat’s now, Dane was very much his too. He huffs, shaking his head and forcing himself to turn back towards Trucker. The two would sort it out, he knew they would. One way or another.
The weight of fabric on her shoulders has her tensing, a petty feeling forming in her chest to rip it off and toss it on the floor. her hands betray her though, coming up and gripping the edges and pulling it round her tighter because it was warm, and smelt like him and it felt like home.
Her bottom lip wobbles.
Tears start to fall.
She could feel his eyes on her face, and the presence of him so close but she refused to open her eyes. Squeezed so tightly shut, it hurt. When the howl rang through the air though, they snapped open, alarmed when she realised that Ahote wasn’t in sight and she didn’t know the half mane- Trucker- huh, lately there seems to be a lot of things she didn’t know.
Katherines eyes searched the forest line, just catching the behinds of the two Tokotas before she looked back down at Dane. He looked pained and so sincere that a fresh batch of tears rolled down her cheeks and she had to bite her lip to stop from letting out a sad little whimper. “Okay,” she whispered, barely getting the word out before her voice cracked.
“Tell me.”
Trucker did not manage to catch the rabbit. He was too distracted by Ahote’s pause, then too distracted by the change in Dane and Kat’s tone. Even so the large male wasn’t sure approaching them was appropriate. So, rude and brash as he was, he instead eyed Ahote - weighing what the barbary would have been thinking - before he stuffed his forepaws into the rabbit’s hole and began trying to dig the creature out. Dirt was thrown everywhere, even the dry mud striking enough of Trucker’s legs and belly to start dusting up and staining his grey coat; but the half-mane couldn’t have cared less. He pinned his ears back to muffle the voices of the handlers. So he could concentrate this time.
With another sigh, and standing up so he could free his hands and his balance enough to wipe his dampening eyes, Dane gave Kat the shortened version of how he and April went missing, got stuck with poachers, had… not only their more protective and defensive tokotas shot, dead, but the rest shipped off elsewhere and otherwise unretrievable. Despite the fact that Muse had fallen in the poacher’s trap and Bison had gotten killed trying to defend her and April and Dane and the other tokotas, Dane hesitated. He broke the chronological order of events, in his retelling, just to push Bison and Muse’s incidents off until last. It hurt him to mention any of the tokotas; let alone both Bison and Muse. Bison had been his shadow since he was a pup. Muse was as good as a surrogate mother, in some ways. She was a better mother than Dane’s anyhow.
Continually, he had to rub at his own eyes because, really, he didn’t want to be caught crying. At least if he was caught crying in front of anyone, it was only one person.
“Anyways,” he trailed off, voice unsteady. Looking towards the ditch and the trees, he watched as a freshly filthy - and unsuccessful - Trucker meandered along, constantly checking if Ahote was in tow.
The two males may as well have been pacing over there, in their own creative and ‘subtle’ way. The half-mane had given up on the rabbit after nearly getting his head stuck in the rabbit hole, and decided maybe it was better to stand restlessly beside Ahote instead; watching the brown male’s ears twist and turn in reaction to their handlers and his own uncertain thoughts.
“That’s where these guys came from, and a few others we have at home,” Dane said. “But… Trucker and Diesel are the least skittish.”
The story fell from Dane’s lips in a slow manner, like he was holding something back, and the closer the end came the more Katherine realised why he was so hesitant in explaining. They had lost them all. the whole pack.
Bison, a gruff Tokota that was the canine of Dane. But still so kind when he wanted to be in his own little ways.
Muse, the mother of all mothers. A Tokota that made sure everyone was fine and okay, but new when to show dominance if she needed to.
“I’m sorry,” She choked out, eyes squinting shut once more, because what a thing to happen. How selfish she suddenly felt. Katherine ignored Trucker and Ahote coming out of the trees, the half mane oddly dirty and the barbary sombre looking- in favour to throw herself at Dane.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, head burying into the space between his shoulder and neck, cold nose touching bristle, but she didn’t care. She sniffs, holding back a sob but the noise slips past and she squeezes him closer. So afraid that he would disappear again.
She wasn’t sure how long she held onto him for, how long he stayed crouching there, how long Ahote and Trucker watched from afar. But when her sobs subsided and there was nothing left for her to give but a few exhausted sniffles, she closed her eyes, breathing out a soft breath before mumbling so low she wasn’t sure if he’d hear her.
“I love you”
Related content
Comments: 3
Niiice!
Are you still a part of the tribe because we get that bonus too c:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Unfortunately I am not. D: I should re-join the tribe, lol.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1