[T]Chasing Legends

Denver yawned, his jaws stretched wide as he reached one of his massive paws forward, digging up a clump of dirt and loose rocks with it. He shook out the pine needles that clung to his pelt as he blinked at the bright sunlight. Denver felt a small hand prodding into his shoulder as he glanced over his shoulder to his handler, Che. He groaned as Che smirked as he poked him again.

“Oh, come on, you lump!” Che grabbed a clump of Denver's flecked white pelt, giving him a playful tug. “We've got some work to do in the nearby caves!” Che sounded much more excited about helping explorers discover a new place in Tokotna, Sikatou. Denver groaned at the thought of the underground caves, with glowing mushrooms and waterfalls made from lava. Denver shuddered, knowing he'd have to be tacked up in his caving equipment to do the bare minimum work.

Denver rocked himself onto his paws and Che was able to hop onto the large white dires back. Denver yawned, wishing Che would've let him sleep just a little while longer.

The pair padded along the edge of the ocean coast, where they found a small group of Tokotas and handlers meeting before heading into the dangerous caves. 

“Well, I heard from my handler that these caves were home to owlbeasts!” A mid-sized chimera Tokota excitedly shouted. Denver's ears picked up on talk from the nearby Tokotas and he flattened his ears against his head, suddenly afraid of what the small group of adventurers would find. An orange short maned Akota gave the startled Dire a nod as Denver walked by him and commented to his friend about the owlbeasts she mentioned.

“Champ, I don't know what in the world you're going on about,” the orange Akotas's voice was smooth and soft, “but I think you're scaring any newcomers.” He swung his head up to Denver as Che slowed him down to speak with the other handlers. Che left Denver with the small group Tokotas while he went to speak with the handlers.

“I'm not scared, I just don't really want to be here.” Denver snorted, aware of how snotty he sounded. “Caves are fun and I like them,” he added quickly, “but caves with beasts in them are really new for us.” Denver felt his fur begin to stand on end as he thought of the beasts they'd encounter. Champ, the pretty chimera Tokota, walked over to him and brushed herself against him, trying to calm him.

“Oh, I understand.” She said quietly, “and you're right Jethro, I shouldn’t have mentioned the owlbeasts in the presence of our new friend.” Champ’s blind eyes glowed with humor when Denver's muscles tensed in fear. “Relax, friend! I'm only teasing you.” Denver didn't relax until the two blind chimeras walked away at the sounds of their handlers.

The owlbeasts Champ mentioned weighed heavy on his mind. Denver couldn't help but wonder how small the beasts were, if they had sharp teeth and claws. Denver felt his fur stand on end at his own thoughts. He shook the fear off as a tiny Toki bound up to him.

“Hi! Who are you?” She asked him, her eyes shining at the much larger Dire.

“Denver,” he replied, “and you are?” His voice was kind, despite his fear.

“Navy!” The Toki yelped, excitement flowing out of her voice, “I like your name, Denver! Are you excited to go exploring in the caves on the island?” Navy seems to be bouncing on her paws, in sheer excitement. Denver can't help but smile at her.

“Yeah, I am. I'm a very good caver,” Denver explained to Navy all his recent caving experiences. Navy's tail wagged happily as she drank up Denver's stories. “Che, my handler, bought me new caving gear, too.”

“Oh, I love caving gear! I think it's so fun to get all tacked up to go exploring in the caves!” Navy yelped. Denver and Navy were caught up in conversation when Che and Navy's handler distracted the chatting pair.

“C'mon talker,” Che patted Denver's shoulder as Navy's handler fixed her halter onto her muzzle, “we're going into the caves!”

A little while later and dozens of feet into the caves, the small group, including the blind chimeras, Navy, and Denver with their handlers, found the much larger cavern. Denver heard Navy gasp, trailing behind the group to take in the sights. Denver's eyes closed as the light blinded him as he stepped into the large cavern and blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes to the sudden light change. The blind chimeras gasped as they felt the warmth from the light source. As Denver's eyes adjusted, he noticed gorgeous glowing blue mushrooms and a mysterious light source that seemingly came from a crack in the ceiling.

“Whoa,” Navy whispered, “it's beautiful. Gosh, I've never seen mushrooms that tall before!” Denver stared at the huge glowing blue mushrooms, that seemed to be glowing from some mysterious source.

“I've never seen glowing mushrooms before,” Denver breathed, “I-I never imagined mushrooms could grow underground!” His voice was hushed, his ears pinned against his head. Denver looked around the orange chimera Akota, who stood sniffing the air, to stare down the underground mushroom forest.

The handlers tugged on the Tokota's leads and began slowly leading them through the forests. Denver couldn't help but look up and down rows and rows of glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms were all different sizes, large ones with thick stalks, barely sprouted ones with thin caps, and some that were perfectly in the middle. Navy grabbed the closest mushroom and proudly presented the glowing mushroom to Denver, a huge smile on her muzzle.

“Here ya go,” Navy mumbled around the mushroom, “let me put this in your fur!” Navy stopped and braided the mushroom stem into Denver's mane. Denver laughed as he could feel Navy's nimble paws in his fur. “There! That looks good in your fur!” Navy exclaimed as Navy's handler tugged on her lead again, calling her name.

The four Tokotas and handlers continued through the mushroom forest when the Tokotas heard a roar in the distance. Champ stopped suddenly, her mane standing on end and her lips drew back into a snarl. One word swam into Denver’s mind; Owlbeast. His eyes grew wide in fear and he too stopped next to Champ.

“Whatever that was sounded like it was in the distance. It might not even be in the caves with us,” Denver whispered to the pretty chimera, knowing he was lying to himself and her.

“Are you sure?” Champ asked, her eyes huge in fear. Her blind eyes seemingly searched Denver's own for reassurance. Denver swallowed before reassuring her.

“It'll be okay. We're strong and we'll get out of here safely. I promise.” Denver blinked, swallowing his own fear, keeping his voice even. Eventually, his words reassured Champ enough for her to continue alongside him through the strange forest, who shook off her fear.

They all continued forward into the next cavern, where the growling grew louder and louder. Denver's fur rose on his back, prepared to attack the beast that was growling. The next cavern had a small waterfall made from lava, which Denver had to admit to himself that he hoped he never saw anything like a lava fall before, where a beast with icicles protruding from the beast's huge back was resting. A beak poked through the creature's face. Denver blinked in horror.

“What is that?” Navy's voice shook as she stared up at the nasty creature.

“Owlbeast,” Denver whispered back. “I thought it was a myth.” He glanced down the ledge where it seemed like miniature owlbeasts were playing. “There's more,” Denver's voice trailed off as a handler screamed in horror. The large beast on the rock ledge lifted its massive head and stared at the group.

“Run!” A handler screamed, tossing Navy onto Denver's back. Handlers and Tokotas turned around and darted through the cave systems.

Denver's paws barely grazed the cold stone under his pads as Che ran on foot behind him. “Denver!” Che's voice was breathless. Denver stopped in his tracks, threatening to throw Navy off his back. “Wait up!” Navy slid off his back to move room for his handler. The large beast was catching up to the group.

Denver had shoved Navy forward, and snapped commands to her. “Lead the chimeras to the forest! Stay close to them!” Navy nodded her head, howling commands to the scared chimeras.

“Stay with me!” Navy's voice was strong. “Let's go!” Denver felt confident in his choice in having Navy lead the scared handlers and chimeras. He turned back to face Che where he was cornered by the huge owlbeast. Denver growled and slammed his shoulder into the beast, leaving Che exposed. Denver leapt off the owlbeast and dashed towards his terrified handler who was able to grab onto Denver.

“C'mon! We gotta catch up to the others!” Che’s fingers laced into Denver's fur, shoving Denver forward. His tongue lolled out as Che forced him to put his paws forward. The only sounds that surrounded him were the sounds of his own paws and the scraping noise of the owlbeast's paws.

“Let's go!” Che growled in Denver's ear as he glanced behind him, “he's gaining on us!” Denver tossed his head, trying to get rid of his own fear and force his paws towards the faintly glowing blue light.

“Denver!” Navy's voice echoed in his ears. “I can see you!” Her voice was strained against the pounding sound of his heart. The blue light grew brighter as he dragged himself forwards. His heart lurched as he broke into the bright lights, the glowing blue lights and the mysterious light beam. The sunlight was warm on his fur as he felt his paws shake under his own weight.

The owlbeast growled as he stopped just behind the darkness of the tunnel Denver left. The beast was seemingly able to stand on its hindpaws in the narrow tunnel. Denver felt his fur stand on end again, terrified the beast would follow the group into the mushroom cavern. However, the owlbeast had scraped his massive claws against the stone floor and turned around, heading deeper into the lava falls cavern. Denver slunk to the floor, his paws giving out from under him. Che, who was still on Denver's back, let out a yelp as he too found himself on the cold stone floor.

“Denver!” The trio of Tokotas began lapping at his ears and paws, trying to cool him down. Denver's sides heaved as he drew breath into his lungs.

“I can't feel my paws,” Denver's voice was soft, “I want to leave.”

“We will,” Jethro whispered, “you just need to stand up. I'll lead you out, I promise.” Denver lifted his head to stare into the blind orange chimera. 

“Thank you,” Denver sighed. Che came up to Denver, placing his hand on the Dire's shoulder as Denver glanced up to his handler.

“Hey, can you have Navy lead Champ out? We'll follow behind you.” Che asked Navy's handler, who nodded and began leading the other handler and the Tokotas out of the tunnels. Che helped Denver stand up on his paws and Jethro was led to Denver's side, so the exhausted Dire could lean against the large Akota.

As Denver limped out of the tunnel, the warmth of the sunlight of the Sikatou island. The handlers gathered around and discussed what they and their Tokotas had discovered in the cave system.

“What were those things?” A young woman asked, “it looks like an owl but it has spikes on its back!”

“I have no idea, I hope we never see anything like that again,” a man said, shivering at the memory of the owlbeasts they found.

“I think I heard about them, they're known as Borga's Owlbeasts?” A trans woman said, “I think I heard someone mention them in the town I live in. It sounds like only a few handler-Tokota pairings have seen them on the island.” They mentioned, as the Tokotas began speaking amongst themselves. Denver sighed as he sat down, not wanting to participate in the conversations.

“I think Denver and myself should get going. I think he needs a good nap at the ranch.” Che said, pointing over to the large Dire, who was clearly falling asleep on his own paws.

The handlers broke up and gathered their own Tokotas, saying their goodbyes, giving hugs and exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch.