OTA

Mikhail and his brother Lekan were raised by supportive parents on the edge of their village. A calm but, to some, boring life. The highlight of his day was playing in the forest with his brother and the village's children.

He didn't have quite as bad of a transition to adolescence as others did, remaining relatively calm and quiet while others became moody and distant. But around this time his parents began having issues, with his mother being sick of their dull life and wanting to move, while his father, who had grown up in the village, refused. More and more frequently Mikhail and his brother would escape into the woods, though now rather than play hide and seek they would walk around and mess with nature, diverting streams, forming puddles, building things of twigs and ferns, and climbing trees, enjoying each other's company away from the turmoil between their parents.

As their parents edged closer to splitting up and their fighting continued to escalate, the brothers would spend even more time outdoors to escape it, even sleeping outside occasionally, finding the bugs and damp air preferable to the shouting. Though they didn't openly acknowledge it, they were also doing it to spend as much time together as possible, just in case they did end up being separated.

One night while they were deeper in the woods than they'd ever been, a great beast attacked them. The worst of Mikhail's injuries were two gnarled gashes on top of his head, but Lekan had been struck in the spine. The two scrambled beneath a great fallen tree, just being nicked by the edges of the beast's claws while they cowered. Suddenly the beast fled, and the brothers realized it was due to shouting in the near distance. One of the voices drew closer to investigate what the beast had been pawing so fervently at, and the ranger came upon the two brothers.

They were brought to the hospital, where while Mikhail was given stitches, Lekan was thought to possibly not walk again- or not for a long time, confining him to a wheelchair. Mikhail learned that they had been attacked by a Tokota, a notorious one that the rangers had been pursuing for several days. Before the rangers went back to their work, Mikhail learned all he could about Tokotas from them, though his parents and most of his village were uninterested in them, and Lekan predictably hated and feared them. The incident caused a major divide between the brothers for the first time.

As he grew, Mikhail's abrupt interest in Tokotas never waned, even though he had no one to speak about them to within his village. The divide between him and Lekan had grown ever deeper and wider, especially with now regular hospital visits and less time together. He'd been taught to drive after he recovered and had begun heading off to other villages and tribes- where he was dumbfounded to see more of the beasts being ridden than cars, bikes, or horses. As he wandered the roads he still flinched away from the enormous bear-dogs whenever they neared him, earning quizzical looks from what he presumed to be their masters.

In his village, everyone was the 'same' as him, with doglike features. But outside, he realized what a great variety there was in people, from humans to reptiles to creatures he couldn't quite put in any category that he knew of. He discovered information centers within tribes that he could visit, and he absorbed as much knowledge as he could, yet he became no warmer towards the beasts.

Although he acted well enough around officials and masters, and had never voiced his intentions to anyone, he planned nothing positive for Tokotas. His mind had become dark after the incident, losing his parents and his brother, and he truly desired to cull the beasts as he could- at least the wild ones, though he'd had to learn about them first.

With a knife, a bow, and an extensive change of his appearance, one night he ventured out where he'd learned there was a small pack. And he had tried to kill them. Sure, they weren't the monster that had attacked him and his brother as far as he knew, but it was good practice. He had watched and heard one arrow dig into the flank of a beast, both the thud and the roar, and it bounded away trailing flecks of blood on the snow. Startled, the rest of the band dispersed as well.

Mikhail began jogging after the maimed one's trail but paused at the area they'd been idling in as an odd sound came to his ears. After investigating, he found small- well, small compared to the adults- bundles of fur huddled together, concealed among tussocks of grass, a shallow hole, and boulders. Just one of the whelp's eyes were open, and it stared blearily at him, confused. A mix of feelings came over him that he couldn't discern in the moment, but it cooled the hot anger that had warmed his pelt for years and left him chilled as his mind went blank.

He watched himself kneel and pat the whelp between the ears, and it gently nibbled on his hand. He could see its tiny tail wagging behind it. He wasn't sure how long he squatted there, petting and playing with the pup, but eventually, he looked around and saw gleaming eyes in the darkness that caught the moon's light. While he may have thought them sinister just moments ago, he now thought they looked confused, fearful, even. A cold, unpleasant feeling crept through his chest as he questioned what he was doing.

Pushing himself up, he took off in the direction he'd come. He'd undone his disguise along the way, washing the bright powder he'd used to change the color of his fur out into a stream, and sat in his car until the dawn came.

Two days later he reappeared at his parent's house, and there he stayed. He refused to speak any more about Tokotas, and though his family was perplexed, they didn't press on it. He attempted to patch up his relationship with his brother and succeeded moderately- especially now that he wasn't so obsessed with the beasts and could give attention to other lost interests. But where he made up with his brother, he and his parents became more standoff-ish.

They didn't appreciate his disappearance for months at a time just to come back for their money and food- at least he could have come back with money, a job, something. Again the house was filled with shouts on a nearly daily basis, but now with him versus mostly his mother- his father had made peace with his son's mooching quickly enough. She declared that with the care his brother required, they couldn't afford an adult not to contribute, and gave him an ultimatum: get a job, or get out.

Now without his car, which they had been paying for before, he left the house with a few of his belongings. He was lost on what to do, having spent the last few years of his life learning about Tokotas rather than functioning as an adult. So he walked onward back towards the nearest tribe.
He asked what to do, surmising his current situation, and many pointed him towards adopting a Tokota. It was free, and once he could take his Tokota hunting he could sell the pelts and make some decent money. Even while young, he could take them on walks through the wilderness and find valuables.

He was shown to the nearest kennels where dozens of Tokotas of varying ages were kept. The pups looked at him with bright, excited eyes that caused his chest to tighten as his mind kept revisiting that night. But eventually, he settled on one. Only around a month old, she seemed shy but sweet and playful when coaxed, though he was told she tended to be anxious around the older and larger pups.

A kind handler let him use their barn for his and his Tokota's shelter until she was old enough to bear his weight, also offering to give him a crash course on riding them. He dubbed his pup Yarona, which meant "to sing," as the rare time she did make noise it was quite pleasant to the ears, though he'd been told Tokota howls were melodious in general.

Time passed, Yarona grew, and eventually, Mikhail had accumulated enough wealth to partially repay the handler, leave their barn, and find a place for himself and his Tokota. He would end up living on the western outskirts of Tyonek.

• He can be drawn bipedal or quadrupedal.
• He can be drawn without clothes for convenience, though clothes are generally preferred.
• His shoes, belt, and bag are optional.
• His jacket can be drawn open, especially in milder weather.

• His design is based on an English Springer Spaniel/Australian Shepherd mix.

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