WF24 Taming 7

Archer’s morning had been relatively uneventful, and had been spent bouncing from chore to chore. He had been wondering if he should just give up going after Esmerelda and Moira, but as much as he was interested in them, chasing after them every day was becoming a little frustrating. He sighed, leaning the axe he had been using to split wood against a tree stump, wiping sweat from his brow, and took a break to think about it more. While it was frustrating to go after Esmerelda without a guarantee of bringing her back home with them, running after the pair of wild tokotas did get him off of his property and out and about. Not to mention that it gave the tokota he was watching for a friend some exercise, and Balan had been warming up to Archer and Foxtrot steadily. Once they had spent the time chasing down Esmerelda and Moira, both Foxtrot and Balan could be used for an excursion afterwards for a hunt, or fishing, though Balan did not seem to like the later activity. Archer was almost tempted to bring more than two tokotas out with him each day to get more of them off the property and allow them to stretch their legs and exercise, but if he did decide to continue going after Esmerelda and Moira then he didn’t want to drastically shift the number of tokotas he brought with him or get rid of Foxtrot and Balan, who the two wild tokotas were used to seeing around. He sighed, knowing that the receding shape of Esmerelda had haunted him in his dreams, and resigning himself to another week or so of going after the two wild tokotas, Archer piled up the wood he had split and went into his house to grab a chunk of seal meat.
Archer packed the chunk of meat into his saddle bags, humming a tune as he did so. Despite it being nine in the morning, the sky was still dark, and had only begun to lighten with the promise of dawn in the past ten minutes. He didn’t want to take the tokotas out when it was too dark without some form of light- the moon was an option but the white sphere had set behind the mountains a few hours ago. While the tokotas could probably navigate their way through the terrain in the dark, there would be trips, stumbles, and possibly falls, which to him would be a risk that Archer wasn’t willing to take. He did not want to injure himself, or one of his tokotas, and especially not the tokota he was watching for a friend, Balan. Archer noted the gradual lightening of the sky outside and decided that now would be a good time to head over to the barn and get Foxtrot and Balan ready for their quest to find Esmerelda and Moira later that day.
Walking across his front yard, Archer noticed that the light was beginning to define the trees around the house. While his windows cast a glow from the cast iron stove that doubled as a fireplace and heated his little cabin, there was more ambient light coming from the sky. That didn’t mean that the barn was still dark, despite a number of windows and openings towards the roof. Archer left the barn door rolled open to let in as much light as he could, before walking over to Balan’s stall. The shy sphynx had grown used to his presence, and Archer greeted him with a pat on his nose and a tug on his halter to make sure it was secure. With everything in order, Archer let the sphinx out into the front yard, hoping that he would be able to pick up Esmerelda’s and Moira’s scent, as the two wild tokotas often had the habit of wandering through his front or side yard. With Balan out and about, Archer got Foxtrot from his stall and led him to the center of the barn, brushing out his coat before going to the tack room to retrieve his saddle blanket, saddle, and reins. He tacked the red brown tokota up, moving quickly as the scenery out the barn door became more defined with the faint, greyish morning light. Balan yipped outside, alerting Archer that he had picked up a fresh scent, hopefully from Esmerelda and Moira wandering through the previous evening or this morning. Archer finished tacking up Foxtrot, cinching the girth around his belly and clipping the reins to his halter before climbing up and onto his back. He rode the large red brown tokota out the barn door, where Balan was waiting for them. Once the tokota and his handler had appeared, Balan made a wuffing sound before turning, and lowered his nose to the ground by a set of relatively fresh pawprints in the snow. They were close to where Archer had been chopping wood earlier that morning, and he had completely missed them due to how dark it was. Archer, Foxtrot, and Balan set off, following the two sets of pawprints in the snow.
The group moved at a good pace through the trees, and the winding and meandering sets of pawprints in the snow that they were following led in the general direction of the foothills of one of the mountains. Thick, tall pine trees limited the amount of light that was reaching the ground, making the area that Archer, Foxtrot, and Balan were traveling through appear as if it was dusk rather than dawn. There were a couple of small streams that Foxtrot and Balan crossed easily, pausing to drink at one before moving on. Soon, the trees began to thin out as they started to climb up the first of a few foothills. The pair of pawprints in the snow led straight up the side of one foothill, and into a small cave, where it appeared that the two wild tokotas had spent the night. Since they were not there now, it suggested that Esmerelda and Moira had moved on, hopefully close by. The tracks continued up the side of the foothill, leading to a clear, snowy top that had a few shrubs and bushes, not to mention an extremely impressive view. Esmerelda and Moira were standing towards the edge of the bluff, looking down towards the bay with the marsh grasses. The day was clear, and even from here, Archer could see a large herd of caribou moving through them. Esmerelda turned, presumably to lead the way back down the foothill to go after them, but paused when she saw Archer, Balan, and Foxtrot standing towards the other edge. She approached, tail waving side to side in a way that was friendly, but not a full on wag. Moira hung back, not as eager to see them but still approached. Esmerelda paused in front of Archer and Foxtrot, coming to a halt within ten feet of them, before taking a few shuffling steps forwards as Archer held out one of his hands. She was still a little uncertain, but slowly becoming to trust him. Pleased with her progress, Archer retrieved the chunk of seal meat that he had brought with him from the saddle bags and tossed it to her, speaking softly and with a friendly tone as she ate. After she finished up eating the meat, Esmerelda looked up towards Archer as if asking for more, and took a few more steps closer so she was within three feet of Archer and Foxtrot. She blinked, looking over her shoulder at the herd of caribou before turning and heading down the hill with Moira. Archer sighed, hoping that the next day would be more productive.