Bear Hunt Hira Collab

It was an unearthly bright morning as Tendaji set off on Minerva with a rather bored expression as was the usual in the early hours of the day. Behind them trailed a half asleep long mane albino that was bumping into the poor van gogh in front of him whenever she slowed down and earning a light swat from the lioness in turn. Slipping between a few overgrown trees Tendaji could make out a house in the morning fog and a smile grew on her features. Once close enough to the door she slipped off Minerva’s back in time to hear the morning chirps of the birds  themselves waking up.

Archer finished tightening the straps of Czerno’s saddle and patted his shoulder. He was still getting used to the new tokota, but Czerno seemed to be settling in well. He seemed to be playful and enjoyed chasing after sticks and balls, but it would be Archer’s first time taking him out on a hunt, and he didn’t quite know how Czerno would react. Jackdaw sniffed along the other tokota’s flank, getting used to the new black male. His ears pricked as he heard the sounds of pawsteps up the driveway. He let out a yip and trotted towards the barn door, tail wagging as he recognized familiar scents on the wind.

Tendaji’s ears perked up ever so slightly to the sound of scratching from within the barn, a smile forming on her features as she realised that Archer was actually out of bed. She dismounted Minnie and held up a finger while mouthing ‘stay’ before sneaking towards the barn door. Attempting to sneak in soundless and approach Archer from behind. If successful she’d place her gloved hands over his eyes and giggle into his ear “Guess who?”

Jackdaw yipped and whined, stepping in place as the group approached. “Who is it boy?” He asked, looking up from brushing Czerno’s fur out the barn door. Oddly enough, there didn’t seem to be anyone there. Archer huffed, wondering which small animal Jackdaw was yapping at and turned back to brushing out Czerno’s fur. He had to be ready for when Tendaji showed up for their hunt today, and he didn’t want to be late. He finished up with brushing out his fur and bent to pick up the saddle blanket from the barn floor.

Tendaji held back laughter as she finally achieved approaching Archer and covering his eyes. “Hello~” She purred directly into his ear while pressing her chest against his back. Her tokotas stuck their heads in through the door with a curious expression, giving a greeting yip at the two dark males with a wag of their tails.

Archer jumped as someone came up behind him and covered his eyes. “Tendaji!” He said, turning to face her and giving her a quick hug. “I wasn’t expecting you so early.” He said with a grin before turning to Czerno. “This is my new tokota, Czerno.” He said, pointing out the black male, who seemed very interested in the two female tokotas up ahead. Czerno turned his head to look at the two felines as he heard his name before swinging his head back to look at the two new faces.

“I saw! He’s gorgeous.” Tendaji snickered, returning the hug before taking a look at Czerno. “I’m expecting a black male once he’s old enough to leave his mother.” She smiled brightly at the tabby before cupping Czerno’s muzzle and inspecting him close up. “Aren’t you the most handsome boy there ever was?” She giggled, tempted to kiss the male on the nose but from experience she had learnt that a lot of tokotas don’t appreciate that.

Czerno whined as his head was handled before thrusting his muzzle towards Tendaji, licking her face with a wagging tail. Archer laughed “It seems that he likes you.” He said, walking up to Czerno and patting his shoulder. Jackdaw trotted over to them and nudged Tendaji’s arm, whining and begging her for a scratch, dipping his body lower and crouching so that it would be easier for her to scratch him. Archer rolled his eyes, both of the black males seemed to be playing favourites, and he did want to head out sometime today for their bear hunt.

“I’m glad! Most of the tokos around here just seem to growl at me. I guess it’s because of my.. appearance.” She blinked slightly as Czerno attempted to lick her face. “Eeew, ew no! No frenchies!” She yowled before giggling. Out of habit she’d lift the hand that wasn’t holding Czerno’s face at bay to scratch Jackdaw behind the ear. “Hello, boy. I haven’t forgotten about you.” She purred with a kiss to the side of the dark male’s face.

Jackdaw whined after she kissed his face, before shoving his muzzle in hers and licking her face, tail wagging as he darted away out the barn door and towards the tokotas Tendaji brought with her. He bumped one of the long mane’s shoulders with his muzzle before nosing past her and out into the yard. Archer turned to Tendaji, grinning and gesturing towards the door. “You all set to go?” He asked as Jackdaw padded out and Czerno whined after him, tugging on his halter as he strained after the toktoas at the door.

Tendaji grimaced and used her sleeve to wipe off the tokota slobber from her face while finally getting up. “Yup, I’m about ready. We’re hunting bear, right? I was reading it over coffee so I’m not sure if I read it properly.” she grumbled, slipping past the group blocking the door to grab Minnie’s reins and swing herself up into the saddle. The long mane laying his ears back briefly but otherwise remaining quite docile, the male inspecting Archer suspiciously. Despite meeting before he was still uncertain of the man and was ensuring that he was no threat to his pack.

Archer finished saddling up Czerno and unhooked his halter from the barn door and climbed into the saddle, nudging Czerno’s sides with his heels and moving out the barn. They caught up with the rest of the group moving down the driveway. “Any ideas as to where you want to head out today?” He asked when he had finally caught up with Tendaji. Archer blinked slightly in the harsh sunlight, not used to the onslaught of light from the usually cloudy or overcast skies.

“Well, I’ve gotten some information from the locals that there’s an overpopulation of bears in the west wood.” Tendaji leaned back in her saddle while turning her head to look at Archer. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” She asked while fluttering her eyelashes at him. Minnie rolled her eyes at this with a slight huff, the albino male beside her seeming unaffected by the conversation with his mind focused on tracking down a ‘bear’. He recognised those words at least and chose to cut out the meaningless chatter that came afterwards.

Jackdaw’s ears perked at the conversation between the two handlers, and sped up his pace to match Lumi’s. Archer tilted his head at Tendaji’s words. “West wood you say? Huh, I wonder why there are a bunch of bears over there. They generally don’t go over there that often.” He said, thinking. The bears generally didn’t frequent that area, but there was a small stream and it was possible that there could be a salmon run going around now. “Maybe fishing?” He asked, glancing quizzically at Tendaji, unsure of his idea. It was a bit early in the season for a salmon run, so he was a bit uncertain. Czerno tugged his head forward, wanting to try and catch up with Lumi and Jackdaw, who were sniffing the bushes ahead of them.

“That’s why the locals are concerned. Either way, there’s too many of them so we’ve been given permit to hunt there.” Tendaji explained, shaking her head ever so slightly. “Either way, there were apparently far more bears than they thought. We’re only targetting the males, though. There’s a big mean one terrorising the place there, I think the locals called him ‘scar face’ or something. Either way, we have to be careful of him.” The feline felt a slight thrill at the thought of running into this devil of a bear. Minnie appeared to have other ideas however as she gave her a huff, met by an unamused look from Tendaji who muttered ‘killjoy’ to the female beneath her.

Archer grimaced at Tendaji’s words. “Oh scar face, that sounds like a lot of fun, what could go wrong with that?” He asked with a laugh. “At least we’ll be able to identify him easily, supposing that this scar face was named appropriately. Nice of the locals to give us the heads up for help and offer us the permits though, gives us something to do.” He said, grinning at Tendaji. “I’m assuming, of course, that we’ll be going after him in particular.” Archer said with a sigh.

“Apparently half his lip is gone and he’s got this huuuuge gash on the rest of his face.” Tendaji gestured on her own muzzle with an amused chuckle. “Well, if we get him in particular we get a reward from the locals for his pelt and of course, the good will of bringing ‘peace’ to the village.” The lioness snickered in amusement, watching Archer’s shifting expression with great delight.

Archer tilted his head, grinning. “It’s like something out of a videogame, go kill the bear, get rewards from the locals after hunting down this huge scarred up creature.” He said with a laugh. “Well, it can’t hurt, I like the sound of the reward from the pelt, and it might get us a few favors in town. I don’t know about you, but I could use some spices from the grocery store, it makes the meat taste a bit more interesting.” He said with a smile. The group sped up slightly as they neared the west wood.

“Well, they did say they would be forever in our debt. Makes me feel a bit like a brave adventurer. Can’t you see me in some nifty armour?” She gathered her reins in one hand to flex an arm in a rather unimpressive manner. “Watch out, bears! We’re after you.” Her smile seeming to grow. Minnie looked up to see what in the world her rider was doing but gave up half way and chose to adapt to Lumi’s way of doing things. Simply ignoring them.

Archer grinned. “That would be quite the sight, not that I’d mind.” He said, trying to picture her in a suit of armor. Jackdaw nosed through the bushes as they neared the stream. There was a lot of bear scent in the area, and it was increasing as they neared the water up ahead. Czerno whined and tugged towards the right as he picked up a scent of a bear. “Want to follow this one?” He asked, struggling to keep Czerno’s head straight as he sidestepped towards the bushes. Jackdaw padded ahead, following the scent towards the river bank, nosing through the bushes at the top of the stream.

Tendaji felt a bit of crimson heat up her fur, covering her muzzle briefly to hold back a giggle. Instructing Minnie to follow Czerno. A spark of life starting to form in the albino long mane at Jackdaw’s discovery, beginning to bounce around the black male like an annoying white flea. “Looks like they’ve found something. Wonder if it’s the spooooky Scarface.” Tendaji’s grin only seems to grow, the slight shyness replaced by a familiar mischief.

Archer cuckled, only to have his laugh interrupted by an ear splitting roar. Archer’s head swung around to see a large bear with a scar ripped across his face tower above the bushes where Jackdaw had disappeared. Archer immediately jumped off of Czerno and dived to the ground, scuttling away from the tokotas and bear. The large brown furred creature was huge, and was definitely something that the locals had to fear. With his load lightened, Czerno sprang towards the bear, growling as he and Jackdaw faced off against the large creature.

Tendaji blinked, following suite and leaping off Minnie as she charges towards the scarred bear. Lumi, at this point, would take a back seat and wait for the two males to attack. Acting as a back up in case the beast attempted to make a run for it. Tendaji blinked, feeling her legs become weak with fear. “I- I guess they weren’t kidding when they said this thing was terrifying.” She whispered quietly to Archer.

Archer shook his head. “Nope, sure weren’t kidding.” He said, getting to his feet and pulling Tendaji to hers. “It’s a good thing we brought four toktoas.” He said, though he was worried. A bear of that size would prove an almost impossible challenge for one, possibly two tokotas. Even with their group of four, they would certainly have a rough time taking down this large creature. Jackdaw leaped at the bear, managing to open up a gash on the bear’s shoulder before he was shaken off to the ground. The bear tried to follow Jackdaw to the ground, but the remaining tokotas distracted them, with Czerno leaping towards the bear and fastening his teeth into one of its forepaws.

Minnie, being heavier in stature, deciding to leap for the massive bear’s throat after Czerno sinks his teeth into the massive beast’s paw. Locking her jaw she’d swing helplessly like a rag doll as the bear furiously attempts to rid of her. The albino male swiftly made his way towards the side of the bear and proceeded to force all of his weight into the bear’s side to send it toppling over and make the job easier  for the rest of his hunting party. Tendaji partially hid behind Archer as she bit her lower lip nervously, this was torture to watch and even though she knew that the tokotas were experienced from previous bear hunts she still worried. “Do you think they’ll take them out?” She asked quietly to Archer, subconsciously taking his hand and squeezing it to ease her own worry.

Archer nodded. “I’m confident in their abilities.” He said, though he was still worried. A swipe from one of the bear’s large paws could injure one of their tokotas, and it would be a long walk home. Archer didn’t want to think of what the bear’s glimmering teeth could do to one of the tokotas. Czerno moved as the bear fell, leaping back as the bear’s paw was ripped from his mouth as he fell. He leaped back onto the bear’s forelimbs, using his weight to pin the struggling bear’s front paws. Jackdaw jumped on the bear’s back paws, using his weight to pin the bear while giving the other two tokotas an opening.

Minnie let out a muffled set of snarls as she continued to clamp down on the bear’s jugular, the opening gave her a chance to chomp down further into the thick hide and eventually pierce the desired spot. The bear let out a furious gurgled cry as it was forced against the ground and began to kick violently to get the tokotas away while being choked. Tendaji kept her eyes set on the beast ahead, still concerned and not in the least comforted by Archer’s words. “Are you sure? I’m not sure we’ll be able to carry a nine hundred pound animal if this beast injures them.”

Archer gritted his teeth as the bear began it’s death struggles. “We might be able to start to process the meat and split it up between the other tokotas, but I’m sure they’re doing fine.” He said, noting how the tokotas moved away from the bear and circled it. While the large creature succeeded in getting up, it only managed to take a few shaky steps before collapsing on the river bank. Blood matted the chest fur of the beast from the rip in his neck, spilling onto the stones and into the water. Jackdaw and Czerno moved in closer as the bear twitched and fell still, sniffing along its flank as the bear stilled, letting out a final rasping breath.

Minnie, being forced to let go of the bear, took out a large chunk of the fur in the process. Her hackles raised angrily while she tilts her head ever so slightly to further inspect it. Seeing as it was close to death, Lumi in the mean time would lick his chops slightly. Watching the beast with a curious look on his features, being not brave enough to go close to the beast in its final moments. Tendaji gave an agreeing nod  towards Archer, realising that she hadn’t released his hand yet and carefully pried her fingers from it. “The villagers wanted me to bring his pelt as proof so we’ll have to be careful with what we do with it.” She studied the creature carefully while tucking her hands beneath her arms as she folds them to cover up her embarrassment. A deep flush of  colour appearing beneath her fur and she shifted instead to watch the sight before her. Seeing as the tokotas had successfully taken down the bear she felt her chest swell with pride, perhaps all the training had paid off.

Archer rubbed his hand, letting the blood flow back into his fingers before offering her his other hand, pulling Tendaji up. “I’m sure we can arrange that, maybe give some of the meat to the village elders, that can’t hurt and might get us some calls in the future and some extra hunting permits. Besides, I’m not sure I can handle all of this meat, even splitting it with you.” He said, looking over the large bear carcass laying before them. Archer walked up to it, suprised by the bear’s large size. While he had already seen the bear was quite large, even in comparison to the tokotas, he was absolutely monstrous up close.