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To Help a Dire-Taming Attempt 2

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It was slow going through the rocky trails, much slower than even her first trek through the mountains.  Selah once again found herself perched atop her snow roan tokota Ildra, but this time she was joined by her husband Theo and his tokota Shila, and right on her tail was her faithful Kalec, who had refused to be left at home this time and thus was serving as their pack mule.  The large brown wolverine didn’t seem to mind as long as he got to come along and stay close to her.  She didn’t know how Theo and Shila ended up at the head of the group when it was her work that has sought out this particular trail on her way back last trip.

Selah was still a little sore about how Theo had responded to her crazy account of her first encounter with the dires.  He’d scoffed at her, chuckling over her grand tall tale, told her the cold air must have been affecting her.  She knew he was simply teasing her as he’d always done, but she still was a little sore over how she’d been played-Theo really had no idea...  She’d been planning her next strategies now for days and eagerly awaited her next encounter with the merle male she now was consistently nicknaming Dusty. Even Ildra had been excited to return...

Her gaze settled on the tall figure of her husband ahead.  Thankfully, he’d overcome his last bout of weakness fairly quickly, quicker than normal in fact.  A large part of it most likely had to do with is excitement over the unfolding adventure.  She only hoped that he would take it easy, or at least as easy as possible.  She’d already scolded him once today for shifting to a slightly more feral form of humanoid wolf.  From behind, the pair of shifter and tokota almost resembled a humanoid tundra tokota riding a tokota…The thought brought a half-cocked smirk to her lips.  Her husband had always loved the giant hairy beasts…perhaps it was not coincidence that he got stuck in humanoid wolf form after his accident… Ildra suddenly hesitated.

Theo and Shila had also hesitated in the path ahead, Theo’s black tipped white ears swiveling about.   He shifted in the saddle before turning his ice blue eyes over his should to look back at her.

“I don’t think we’re alone out here,” came his smooth, quiet voice.

Selah scowled lightly and cast a quick glance around at the imposing jagged rocks and steep inclines surrounding the narrow trail.  Yeah, she’d felt the watching eyes now for several hours, felt them since they had turned on to this trail.  A chill raced down her spine as she nudged Ildra forward and stopped next to Theo and Shila.  

“Is it the dires?”

His gaze turned to search the steep rocking cliff immediately next to them.  

“I’m not sure.  I don’t sense a threat, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.  You said the dires were curious…Maybe so, but they are still wild animals and we are in their territory.  Until we get off this trail, we must remain vigilant.  Be in tune with your tokotas, watch their reactions.  They will know the presence of danger before we do.”

With that, he turned and continued carefully down the path.  Selah scowled again.  He didn’t need to tell her this, especially not when Ildra was already acquainted with these particular dires.  Not to mention, she had more experience out here in the wilderness, reading the environment and animals, than he ever could think he had, but she kept the desire to make a smart remark in check and followed in behind him.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes later before Kalec’s great dark brown head pushed in between her and Ildra and the rocky mountain incline.  He whined almost nervously, his golden yellow eyes darting up the mountainside and back to her.  Now Ildra was faltering.  The snow roan’s head came up, her ears alert and swiveling about.  A small whine sounded from her.

“Theo?  Theo, something is wrong…”

Theo and Shila abruptly froze ahead of them.  The large red-brown Shila’s head shot up, a low growl rumbling in her throat, before she began dancing nervously in place.  It was all Theo could do to get her to calm enough to stay upright.

“Selah, get over here-quickly!” he barked.

Ildra needed no direction.  The snow roan instantly sprang to action with Kalec hot on their heels.  Up ahead, she spotted a small turnout carved out of the rock face possibly just large enough to provide cover for everyone.  Theo was heading straight for it.

“Theo, what is it?  What’s going on?  I don’t hear or smell anything….”

Before she could finish, she felt the earth tremble slightly beneath them, heard a distant unnatural growing rumble.  A chorus of near frantic howls sounded somewhere above, and all the while, the rumbling sound grew.

“Avalanche!” came Theo’s hoarse, panicked croak.

What?!  Avalanche…in the summer?  But she had no chance to question or protest.  Rocks and dirt and patches of wet slushy snow began to rain down from above.  It was small pieces at first, but the size and amount steadily increased until she could begin to hear the distant snapping of trees somewhere above.  She and Theo quickly dismounted, and without direction, Kalec, Shila, and Ildra placed themselves in front of the terrified handlers, pinning them between furry bodies and rock.

A chunk of tree, large clod of dirt and snow and a flurry of furry bodies suddenly tumbled down onto the path they had just been standing.  Pained yelps rang out, and suddenly the trio of tokotas and their handlers found themselves nearly face to face with the tawny male dire and his white companion.  Ildra nearly broke from her protective stance, the danger raining down the only thing stopping her.  Seemed the dires had the same idea of refuge from the rapidly approaching disaster.  After a brief surprised stare off, the tawny male’s ears fell back, he flashed his teeth with a snarl, and quickly leapt of to the right and out of sight.  The white female’s golden eyes were wide and terrified; she faltered before finally following after the male.  

“Where’s Dusty?” Selah whispered in alarm as the snapping of trees and cascade of debris began to grow closer and heavier.

“Dusty?” came Theo’s wavering voice as he held her close.

“The other dire, the merle…the one I want to tame!  Ah!!!”

The full force of the avalanche was now upon them.  Icy debris, rocks, and dirt began to tumble furiously over their rock shelter.  Selah buried her face in Theo’s thick silvery gray mane and tried to shut out the world.  This couldn’t be happening…Incoherent sounds registered between the mostly deafening rumble of the avalanche…the pounding of her heart, the pounding of Theo’s heart, whimpers, whines and yelps of Shila, Kalec and Ildra…then nothing but the ringing in her ears…

Selah didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt Theo’s strong hands on her shoulders, shaking her gently.

“Selah…Selah are you alright?” came the distant echoing voice.  

Selah shook her head weakly and tried to steady her spinning head.  “Is…is it over…?” she muttered.

A strange mix of musky tokota sweat, fresh earth, and icy snow began to register around her.  Weight…weight everywhere…but oddly enough, nothing hurt-yet.  A warm wet tongue washed across her face, and she instantly recognized Ildra's strong fishy breath.

“Ack…Ildra!  No…!” she muttered and tried to push him away.  

Her arms pulled up out of muddy filth and grime.  Selah finally opened her eyes to find herself staring up into Theo’s worried gaze.

“Good, she’s good,” came his relieved voice.  “Yeah, I think the immediate danger has passed for now, but we need to get out of here.  This area is definitely not stable.”

She felt his strong grip on her hands, felt him beginning to pull her up.  

“Ildra, Shila…Kalec…” she muttered as she weakly attempted to help.

“They’re fine, all things considered.  We won’t be able to look everyone over good until we get some place safer.”

Selah felt the warm furry body behind her tense, sensed the alarm that suddenly passed over their small group.  In the distance, somewhere below their location, a chorus of pained yelps, snarls and whines began to ring out.

“What…?” came Theo’s bewildered voice.

Selah froze.  It was the dires….”It’s the dires!” she exclaimed, her world coming sharply back into focus.  

She shoved herself up out of the muck that surrounded them and began to scramble over tense furry bodies.

“Selah, wait!”

The landscape beyond their rocky cove was unrecognizable.  Twisted, snapped trunks protruded from the mangled mix of snow, dirt and rocks, and one would never know there had once been a narrow mountain trail leading from their position.  It looked more like the remains of a snowy war zone.  Her gaze flew in search of the distressed raging sounds below.  Ildra was instantly beside her, the snow roan also tense and listening. About halfway down to the embankment, she spotted a large tangle of branches and twisted limbs.  Whatever creature was making the racket was somewhere among that mess.  It had to be one of the dires…The dires…Where were the dires?

“Come on!  We have to check it out!” she called back without hesitation and began scrambling down the embankment.  Ildra hesitated, unsure about following after her.

“Selah, wait up!  You’re going to get yourself hurt!  Selah!”

When she didn’t stop, she heard Theo call to Kalec, heard him send the brown wolverine after her.  It would take more than the large tokota to stop her.  She pushed herself harder, almost not seeing a steep drop until it was too late.  Something took hold of her jacket hood just in time.  Kalec’s lovely hot fish breath hit her in the back of the neck as he yanked her backward.  She paused a moment, her heart pounding in her chest, before looking back at him.  She noticed Ildra quickly scurry past, heading down the mountain toward the tangle of trees.

“Thank you,” she whispered and dug her hands into his thick mane.  “You saved my neck there.  Now help me get down there…” she added and gazed into his golden yellow eyes.

Kalec’s ears swiveled back, but she didn’t falter.  He finally released a heavy huff before standing and slowly picking his way down the embankment.  Selah held carefully to the still attached packs hanging off his harness as they made their way down.  She was not prepared for what she found at the tangled mess of trees.

“Theo!  Theo hurry!” she called up to her husband who was slowly making his way down with Shila’s aid.  Ildra picked her way carefully down the slope before them.

She turned back to the trees.  There pinned amongst the mess was Dusty…her wild merle dire…He panted heavily with eyes closed and she could see his body trembling from where she stood.  There was also a strong scent of blood on air that drifted out of the wreckage.  He was hurt!

“Dusty…you will be ok…” she whispered down to him.

At the sound of her voice, wild violet eyes sprang open, and before she knew what happened, a raging snarly ball of fury lunged up at the tangled mess, splinters flying as fangs met wood.  Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and roughly jerked her back.  Theo’s strong arms came around her chest and held her close.  The fleeting shock passed and she pulled out of his embrace.  Even Ildra shied back in surprise.

“Theo, we have to help him!”

“Selah, are you crazy?  That thing just nearly took your arms off!”

“But…!”

Strong arms grabbed her and turned her to face him.  “Selah, listen to me!”

She shoved against him in protest.  “I am going to free him with or without you!” she spat in protest.  His hand clamped around her wrist as she began to turn from him.

“You need to listen to me and listen well.  I know you want to help, and we will help if we can.  But you need to understand right now that this is not Kalec or Ildra.  This is a wild dire-an injured, trapped wild animal.  I don’t know what moment you think you had with this thing several days ago, but this is not the same animal.  This one is dangerous!”

The logic of his words settled in around her and she couldn’t help but grudgingly agree.  Tears began to rise to her eyes as she peered down into the prison of tangled limbs.  The merle dire leaned against the debris, panting and growling, his teeth bared and his violet eyes wild.  Theo was right-this was not the dusty merle male she’d been gamed by.

“We have to help,” she protested weakly.

“And we will.  We just have to be smart about it.  Let’s take a look at this debris and see what would be the best way of freeing him without further injuring him.”

With that, Theo turned to the tangled trees.  Ildra was nosing carefully around the outer edges of the tangled prison while Shila stayed carefully at his side, and on catching sight and scent of the injured dire, in her characteristic temper, she raised a lip and started to growl.  Theo turned a dark glare at her, but the damage was already done.  The dire within soon began to rage again, hitting the mass of trees with enough force that the pile of debris shifted slightly.  Whatever was hurting him also moved, for the snarling was cut short by a pained yelp.

Theo shied back and scowled at the situation.  “If we’re going to do something, it will have to be soon.  His leg’s pinned, and if he keeps going off like that, he’s going to seriously hurt himself.  These trees here…” his voice trailed off as the trio of tokotas around them suddenly tensed even more than they already were.  Ildra and Kalec were instantly at her sides, both their gazes locked deeper into the mountains.  The other dires…she’d nearly forgotten!

“There,” Theo whispered and without pointing, nodded up to where she saw flashes of tawny brown and white.  “Keep an eye on them.  These dires are usually a fairly close bunch and can defend their pack mates with their life.  Right now, they wouldn’t know the difference between us trying to help or hurt this one.”

Over the next few minutes, they analyzed the situation the best they could without setting the merle into another blind rampage while also trying to keep tabs on the continuously closer movements of the other two.  Selah felt completely frazzled and on edge.  Yeah, they had all nearly been killed, but couldn’t the dires see they were trying to help?  When all was said and done, there was only one option-they had to try and pull the debris off the top of the pile of twisted mess, and the only thing they had strong enough to try such a feat was Shila, Kalec and Ildra.  It was a very risky decision.  One wrong move and the trees could shift, pulling the entire lot of them further down the mountain.  But it was their only choice.

The tawny male and the white female were now easily within sight, lurking in the remains of the sparse tree line further up the mountain.  Every now and then, quiet whines and growls could be heard from them, but thankfully, they were keeping their distance.  Selah watched them warily as she helped set up a system of ropes and lumber.  One eight foot section of a small tree served as a common point to attach the lines from Kalec, Shila, and Ildra's harness, while a grouping of lines attached from there to the weakest point of the dire’s tangled prison.  Theo’s rational was that if something went wrong, he could sever the line going to the dires to free their three from being potentially injured.

Now it was time to see if their plan would work.  Selah glanced down at the exhausted dire.  His bouts of rage were fewer and he rested much more often.  A combination of stress, shock and unknown injury were talking their toll on him.  

“Alright, time to lead the team up.  Take it slow and easy.  If I see any trouble, I’m cutting them loose,” came Theo’s call.

Selah nodded as she turned back to gaze down at the dire.  “Don’t worry Dusty.  We’re about to get you out.  Just hang on.”

Once at the head of the harnessed tokotas, she waited for Theo’s signal.

“Ok!”

“Alright guys, we can do this.  Come on, pull!”

Ildra, Shila and Kalec leaned into their harnesses and began pulling with all their might.  Strong claws dug into the soft earth, sometimes slipping, sometimes holding strong.  The tangled prison creaked and groaned, but little movement was achieved.  Up the hill, close to where they had waited out the avalanche, a pair of eerie low howls rang out, the dires calling for their brother.  The trio gave it all they had, but finally, Theo waved them off.

“Stop!” he called.

Selah made sure her team was safe before scurrying down to where he stood shaking his head.

“They are so close…so close to moving this free.  But it’s just not enough-if there were one more…just one more,” he panted in frustration.

“But we can’t stop now!”

“Selah, I don’t know what to tell you.  I can’t magically materialize another strong body to help them out.  Kalec, Shila and Ildra are not enough and we don’t have the supplies to otherwise free the dire.  We need another tokota…” his voice trailed off.  “Or…” came the hesitant addition.  He gave her an uncertain sideways glance.

Selah furrowed a brow.  “Or what?”

Theo’s ears fell back as he shot her a half-cocked sheepish grin.

“You could always shift into something to give us an edge…”

Her eyes flew open, her jaw dropping in surprise.  “Wha…what?”

“Hey!  You want to save that dire so bad…well we need more power!”

“But you know what that does to me!  What could I possibly shift to that would help?”  

Theo shrugged.  “How about a draft horse?”

Selah abruptly wanted to strike him and only managed to keep her cool due to Ildra’s nervous whining ahead of her.

“I don’t know what the hell you think I am or what I’m capable of…draft horse?  Really Theo?  It will take me a good ten minutes to shift into anything, and then I’ll be completely wore out…then I’ll be stuck as whatever I shift to for several hours while my energy recuperates.  A horse?  In these conditions, on this mountainside?” she demanded angrily.  

Theo wisely didn’t reply as she turned from him in frustration.

“Selah, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean…” came his hesitant voice.

She knew he meant well and was trying to help, and when she thought about it more, perhaps she was the only option.  If she chose her shift wisely, perhaps she could save the dire and still be nimble enough to traverse whatever path they had to take while she recovered.  She felt Ildra's pleading gaze, the snow roan worried much more than the others over the dire's predicament. 

“Selah…”

“Just be quiet and let me think,” she spat as she slowly began heading back up the mountain.  She began pulling off her coat as she went.  Several animals flashed through her mind, including mountain goats and mountain lions, even caribou, but they would either not be strong enough, not sure footed enough for the terrain, or would tempt the three tokotas below far too much.  Then a final idea struck her.  What about a bear?  Bears were strong, were they not?  And could probably move through the terrain easy enough-slow didn’t matter as it would be slow going anyway…and at least she would be warm…Decision made, she headed up to the rocky cove.  The unpleasant business of stripping in the freezing weather was ahead, and she preferred to have as much privacy as possible.  

Ten minutes later, she shoved herself up on trembling furry white paws.  She had never shifted into a bear before, and it had been far more concentration intensive than she had bargained for.  She felt dizzy and weak, and wondered what kind of help she would actually be.  As she began making her way back down the incline, Kalec, Shila and Ildra's eyes locked onto her, growls rumbling from Kalec and Shila.

“Kalec!  Shila!  Shut up already-it’s just me,” she growled back at them.  

Large ears swiveled back in confusion and all three gave her a wide berth as she lumbered by.  Theo waited at the bottom with a wiry grin.

“Don’t you dare say a damned thing,” she growled.  “Let’s just get this done so we can free Dusty and get on down the trail.”

“Yes ma’am,” he quipped.  

“I just hope those dires don’t decide they want bear for dinner.  I know enough to know tokotas are used to hunt bear.”

“If they wanted to eat us, they’d done it long before all this mess happened,” he replied as he dug another harness and rope from Kalec’s packs.

Kalec, Shila, and Ildra were hesitant and uncertain as she was harnessed in next to them.  Hell, she was uncertain, but there was no changing it now, not for several hours at least.  When she heard Theo give the signal she led the team into another pull.  The welcome sound of snapping branches and the release of the tension against the rope was music to her rounded furry ears.

“Stop!  It worked!” Theo called.

Selah turned just in time to see the merle male drag himself out of the hole they’d torn in his prison.  He tumbled down the mess the last few steps before picking himself up on shaky paws.  He blinked at them in confusion, his gaze especially lingering uncomfortably long on her.  There was somehow a moment of understanding between them and she almost thought she caught him cast a sideways glace back toward the next peak, back to where they would find the small valley and the lake.  Then he turned and limped away.  A more upbeat chorus of song arose shortly after as the missing brother was reunited with his pack.  Ildra whined softly out into the cool air from beside her.

“He better remember this the next time we encounter him,” Selah growled as Theo packed up their supplies, including her earlier discarded clothing.

“I’m sure he will,” came the reply.  “That last look to me seemed filled with gratitude.  At least he didn’t appear to badly injured.  I saw a gash on his leg, but nothing that he hasn’t seen before, judging from his other scars.  If I can gain his trust enough later, I’ll take a look at it.”

Selah nodded as the small group of handlers and tokotas slowly started making their way through the debris.  That last look…it was almost an invitation…meet them back at the lake to see where this adventure would take them…

“I have a quick question…”  Theo’s voice drew her out of her thoughts.

“Hmm…What’s that?”

“What made you choose polar bear?”

Selah hesitated as she gave herself a quick glance over for the first time.  Polar bear?  Why the hell did she choose polar bear?  There were no polar bears around here…She scowled when she caught sight of his grinning smirk.

“Shut up,” she spat in frustration and kept lumbering alone, choosing to walk next to the smaller Ildra.

“What…I think you look cute.”

***

3947 Words
Wild tokota's reference sheet (link or thumbnail):WM15 by TotemSpirit
-Pack mates included: WM14 & WF16
-Handler name: Selah & Theo Wyntr
-Faction (prestige breeder or pack leader): Pack Leader
-Tribe (if any):
-Items or companions (if any):

1st Attempt: A Game Well Played-Taming Attempt 1

*******
3800 Words
Just another attempt at taming this guy and more writing practice...gotta brush off all this rust!...and earn more HP

HP for Ildra: 22 (+19 for word count, +2 for handler, +1 for non commission)
Link to import sheet: Ildra 3218
Link to (hunting/fishing/exploring) journal: Ildra 3218 Tracking Journal
Items/Companions: NA
Defects/Health Issues: NA

HP for Shila: 22 (+19 for word count, +2 for handler, +1 for non commission)
Link to import sheet: Shila Rae 4420
Link to (hunting/fishing/exploring) journal: Shila Rae 4420 Tracking Journal
Items/Companions: NA
Defects/Health Issues: NA
© 2015 - 2024 SelahAnn
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