Moose Hunt with Kasa 1

It was fairly early that morning when Diego awoke. Not because there had been any unpleasant surprises or anything like it, but out of sheer anticipation. He was very excited for what was in store today. Diego had gotten a call from Archer, asking to go for another hunt together. Having nothing planned during the time, Diego happily agreed, suggesting they go for a Moose hunt as he had heard there was a herd in the area. He tried to delay his earliness by doing his morning routine as slow as possible, and double checking the saddlebags many times. As he was still even to early to go prepare his Tokotas, he decided he’d just spend more time brushing Sky today.
He spent a great deal of time in the barn, petting his Tokotas, giving them treats when they stuck their heads out their stall doors.
Diego proceeded by preparing his dear longmane girl, Sky, thoroughly. She enjoyed his attention very much, whining a reply when he spoke with her, trying to lick his face occasionally, but remaining very calm. He left her standing in the hall on her own as he went outside to retrieve Boreas, one of the tokotas of his friend Soren. He had promised him to take care of Boreas during the time Soren was away to visit his Sister. He didn’t bother to put much Tack on him, only halter and the collar Boreas was used to from Soren. Diego brought the rainmarked male to the barn door, where he called for his girl. Sky didn’t need to be called twice, she came trotting up to them calmly. After double checking the saddle, Diego mounted his longmaned lady, tying Boreas’ rope to the saddlehorn. With this, they were off, towards the agreed meeting point of him and Archer.

Archer rolled out of bed, grumbling at the sunlight shining in his eyes. A quick glance at his wristwatch told him that he had slept in, and would be late for his meeting with Diego if he didn’t haul his rear end into gear. He shrugged on a clean set of clothing and dashed out the door towards the barn. The tokotas were already up, and barked as they heard Archer’s running footsteps. He checked Ragnar’s and Kanel’s stalls, letting the two tokotas out after he made sure they had their halters on. He was watching Ragnar for a friend, and the roan tokota had been staying with him for a few days. His eyes flitted over the stalls, trying to figure out which tokota to ride. He eventually settled on Akeri, figuring that she didn’t need too much of a brushing with her short coat, and quickly saddled the sphynx up before climbing up onto her back. She shot Archer an irritated glance as he rushed through his usual routine, but followed his directions as they moved out of the barn. Kanel and Ragnar were waiting for Akeri and Archer outside the barn, and as Akeri moved out of the barn she picked up her pace. Both male tokotas fell behind her as Archer guided the group towards the meeting point. He nudged her sides, and Akeri took off, running at a quick pace towards the meeting point.

Diego got there much to early, sadly. He really had tried to delay his arrival by having Sky go very slowly, but he was still over 20 minutes early! He couldn’t believe it. He let Boreas off the rope, so the male could fool around a little in the field before them. The vast grass land would hold many secrets to explore, but today was a hunting day, not an exploration. He had actually brought a map along where the area of the moose herd was loosely marked. He used the time in which Boreas was fooling around and Sky was patiently standing around to study the map and memorize it, perhaps saving them some time on this hunt.
Almost right on time, he heard foots trampling in the distance, only having noticed because Boreas’ head suddenly shot up from examining a branch on the ground. Sky was seemingly unfazed, not bothering more than a twitch of her ear. The male although gave a howl, letting the approaching Trio know that they were there, which made Diego smile. boreas wasn’t usually the type to get all excited about meeting strangers, but today he seemed in a pretty good mood. Which was fortunate, because so was Diego.

Archer heard a howl up ahead, and he checked his watch. Thankfully, he had managed to make it on time. Ragnar let out a howl in return as they ran over a small hill, bringing Diego and the two tokotas with him into view. Archer wrestled with Akeri, trying to get the sphynx toktoa to slow down before she ran through the group. Thankfully, Akeri had enough sense to not go barreling into the group in front of them, and slowed as they approached. Ragnar and Kanel padded up to the two tokotas in a friendly manner with their heads lowered and tails wagging slightly. “Morning Diego!” Archer called out with a wave. “I almost thought I was going to be late since I didn’t wake up on time! Thankfully Akeri here is quite the runner.” He said, patting the tokota’s neck. Since Diego had gotten here before him, Archer decided to ask if he had noticed anything in the area. “You see any tracks yet?” He asked, curious.

Sky greeted the two approaching tokotas with a slight tail wag and a friendly whine, glad to see a familiar face again. She approached Akeri with care and a friendly face. Boreas sniffed the newcomers with great interest, happy about getting to meet them, even if he wasn’t fond of groups. Diego smiled brightly “Hey Archer” he waved back enthusiastically. “Glad you could make it! I went to scout the area yesterday and marked some places on the map. I think I got their area down pretty well.” he patted Boreas nose, who had stuck his head under the handler's arm, trying what seems to be getting him to notice the other tokotas. “I haven’t found any tracks yet, but we should be able to find a lead on them pretty quickly.” he pointed in the direction he planned to start with the search. The open tundra revealed nothing, there was not an animal in sight. but to the edge of the valley there were trees and bushes, and very high grass. It was a good place to start searching, and it was an edge point on Diego’s map.

The group moved quickly over to the trees, running through the grasses quickly. Ragnar, Kanel, and Boreas ran out ahead, and while Akeri tried to charge off after them, Archer managed to hold her at a slower pace, keeping even with Diego and Sky as they ran beside them. Archer glanced ahead just in time to see Kanel’s hind legs flash up in the air as he stumbled over something, and he jerked the reins back as he saw a rack of antlers rising from the grasses in front of them. Akeri and Sky slid to a halt as a moose climbed to it’s feet, bellowing at the group as Ragnar continued running straight towards the moose. With a large leap, Ragnar launched himself at the moose, gripping it at the neck and taking the large animal down. Boreas leaped after Ragnar, barreling into the moose’s side and helping Ragnar knock the large animal over. Archer blinked, staring at the large moose before them. “Well, that was quick.”