Trail of [Not So] Terrors
Mehen
"Tokoweeeeeen" Anik sing-songed, leading Nux forward towards the entrance to the forest. "Think it's really going to be as scary as they advertised?" Wondering if his companions- tokota or otherwise, had any thoughts on the matter. Not that he thought the tokotas were going to do very much talking.
There was a low whine from Nux as he looked into the dark forest, shifting back and forth from foot to foot. "Oh you'll be fine Nux, you're a big brave tokota. What's going to be bigger and scarier than you?" Excluding dires, and maybe very obscenely large bears that is. Not that he wanted the piebald tokota to be thinking about that. It went unsaid.
With a smile he finally swung up into the saddle, looking towards the forest. "What a way to start off the month huh? Haunted trail ride on tokotas." A pause. "This should be goddamn fun!"
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Cantbreakthis
The singsong tone of voice her companion used was enough for the brutally harsh woman to visibly grimace, wishing to clamp hands over her ears in frustration but not allowing for it to affect her visibly beyond that tick. Alaina glanced around the area they were traveling within easily enough, noting the ambient air of chills that lingered. It was night, autumn breeze flickering and flowing through the area despite the settled fog that threatened to trickle in.
It really wasn’t anything overly important now wasn’t? She’d agreed to join in on half a whim, curious to see what the spectacle and event was all about, but she almost regretted not doing such a thing alone.
“You’re in a chatty mood tonight.” Dusky tones sounded so very bored as she mounted on up and allowed Riggs his head, the sphinx took happy and content enough to traveling along beside Nux. Every so often her grip firmed on the reins, her weight shifted in the saddle, but otherwise she rode with the same brutal efficiency that she did most everything in life.
Riggs, on the other hand, couldn’t help a little happy almost prancing side-step to his weight… seeking to shoulder nudge the by far much furrier tokota beside him in a simple friendly gesture. Even though it was late and he was a bit unused to being out at this time he was simply a happy, hardworking creature that always wanted to do what he could to please his rider.
It was just a special bonus that they weren’t alone!
“There could be other ways we could’ve spent tonight, but I suppose this won’t be so bad.” Her lips were set into a frown as she moved to shake out her dreads a little bit, visibly stretching even as Riggs made another little happy overture towards Nux. “Do you know how long the trail is?”
It was a little bit of a detail that she, on hindsight, may have over-missed to some extent. Clicking her tongue the rider fighting reined in her mount, ignoring the beast’s wriggle of excitement as she started to guide him in the direction of the treeline. “Remember this was your idea. Do you think Nux can handle it?” From what she could recall the other tokota was a more skittish type in the long run… she was concerned of the animal’s ability to handle a trail ride of this sort considering the circumstances.
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Mehen
If Anik noticed that she was bothered by his upbeat mood and half-singing, he didn't do anything about it or show that he had. Alaina was a grumpy person, but he didn't let that get to him. He liked to think she had a little bit of nice in her somewhere, and she was damn good at working with tokotas. He supposed it sometimes took a stubborn grump of a person to deal with horse-sized carnivores.
That just made sense.
She was his friend as far as he was concerned, and so he tolerated the fact she seemed almost constantly in a bad mood. Something would make her smile, probably. Maybe.
"Well duh, it's October! We're going on a haunted trail ride. It's like...the essence of halloween. We should have come in costume!" That might be pushing it with her though. He was pretty sure she would have called the idea stupid and laughed at him for it. At least she'd be laughing though, right? "The only thing that would make this more awesomely halloween-y would be if we had candycorn and there was a horror movie playing."
Clearly he was excited.
Nux was nervous, but happy. He was out with a friend, and his rider, and he didn't have to hunt things. At least he didn't think so anyways. When Riggs nudged him his tail began to wag excitedly and he turned to lick the other tokota's face. He was still nervous, but he was more assured by the presence of his friend. It was always nicer to have a buddy along.
"Well when we get back I'll make us some hot chocolate and we can wind down. It's a contest after all, we might just win something here!" Anik was glad for that. Any chance to win nice things was always good, but really he liked the idea of the ride itself! He hummed softly to her question. "Few miles long." The rider hesitated as he tried to remember. "Five I think." Maybe he was wrong though.
"There's the forest, then a corn maze, and then a cave I think." He tried to remember as best as he could. As he did, Nux wuffled happily to Riggs and wiggled contently, nuzzling him as he bounced along, trying to keep step with his companion.
Carefully he nudged Nux with his heels to encourage him forward, petting his neck to try and keep him calm. It was time to make their way into the woods after all. "Oh yeah, Nux can handle it just fine. You're not scared of a silly halloween forest are you boy?" He spoke to the beast, smiling to him. Nux's response was a curious head tilt and a soft woof. "See, he'll be fine!"
Not that he understood the creature. "He needs to get out more, he won't get braver if he doesn't face scary situations." How was he going to pass his rites of dominance if he wasn't trained to deal with intense scenarios. Nux needed the boost in bravery and this seemed like a good way to do that.
"What about Riggs, you think he'll do okay?" Wondering if she had any doubts about the sphinx's abilities in something like this.
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Cantbreakthis
Truth be told Alaina had every single reason to not be a cheery and good-natured person anyway. Despite her relatively still young enough age she’d seen too damn much of life so far.. seen too much of how things actually were above all else. Either way her attention remained mostly on their surroundings, keeping a lookout for any signs of danger that might lurk within the tree line.
Thankfully that didn’t seem to be something she was going to have to be overly concerned about. The area was a populated enough one wasn’t it? And it would be enough to hopefully drive away any and all wild tokotas that might decide to lurk within it… their typically flighty natures wanting to keep them well away from people. On top of that the more hostile environmental creatures would be much the same, wouldn’t it? The predatory beasts that made this wintery biome their home would likely flee the scent of human.
And, even more thankfully, the winter months were not conductive towards a rabies outbreak.
“Over my dead body.” A costume? Really? The woman couldn’t resist the scoff towards the mere thought of dressing up like a damn fool in the long run but otherwise she didn’t seem too overly concerned. She wasn’t paid enough for that. Hell… she wasn’t paid at all beyond what she earned for the pelts and fish her beasts brought in. “I know what you’re going to be doing when we make it home from this.” The huff was audible and a little tired but what was one to do about it? She had to make do with what she had to work with and it was what it was.
The other’s tail all wiggling and wagging like that had Riggs’ going as well, the entire motion shaking his body in the process and causing his rider to sigh audibly. Really? While the tokota below her was a hardworking and loyal creature he had to be so social didn’t he? The lick towards his face brought his own tongue out in return, audibly wuffling in excitement as he pressed his nose lightly to the other’s cheek.
“I wouldn’t be out here if there wasn’t something on the line.” Prizes were always beneficial and Alaina clucked her tongue against her teeth, pulling Riggs away from Nux deftly as they started on their way into the forest segment of the trail. Everything was almost eerie levels of quiet beyond the movements of their mounts and her partner’s constant chatter but that was all understandable enough… nothing new there.
Meanwhile from the side pocket attached to Riggs’ saddle a spectery head popped out. It would only take a moment or two before the Aippaq Companion popped out fully, making comical levels of halloweeny noises and whooshing towards Nux’s head before it floated off to the side a bit… keeping pace with the riders but not venturing too close as it zipped along here and there.
“You bring up a good point. He needs to be exposed and socialized better.” Some mild chiding towards her companion’s training before he attention glanced back to her own tokota. “I believe he’ll do fine. He’s not one to startle easily.”
It wouldn’t take long before this was put to the test itself. About half a mile into the forest and there was suddenly three dim shadowy figures that popped up out of nowhere, completely eliminating the relatively peaceful ride with a bone shattering screech. Riggs halted almost immediately, a little startled by the sheer noise of it all, but he didn’t bolt for it… instead baring it teeth in a warning growl towards the jump scare.
Meanwhile Alaina snorted, one brow raised. “Sheet covered springboards? Really?” Nope. She wasn’t in the least bit impressed but it was enough for her to lightly nudge Riggs back into movement, head turning to chance a glance back towards what served as her friend to see how things were fairing with him in the process. He was on a much more unstable animal as far as temperament went after all and she had the feeling that if he wasn’t able to get him under control rapid enough it would be likely he’d be sent along for one merry little flight.
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Mehen
Anik snickered at her. "Oh come on, you mean you're passing up a chance to be even scarier than normal? For shame Alaina, for shame!" He teased, of course. Just trying to make the time a bit more fun. Alaina needed to lighten up a bit, though he was pretty sure he'd have a pretty tough time getting that to happen. She was a tough egg to crack, he gave her that.
Work seemed to be everything for her.
The moment the sprite appeared he grinned, laughing warmly at it's antics. The noises were hilarious, entertaining really. "Well hey, looks like you're at least a little into the holiday spirit!" The shapeshifter smiled wide, glad to see the little sprite, happy she'd found a use for it. "It's good to know my little gift is being put to good use. I hope Riggs likes him."
He noted her chiding towards the training he'd given and shook his head. "He's got plenty of socialization, he's very friendly, he just hasn't dealt with a lot of high stress situations, or sc-AAAAAARRREESS!!" He didn't even get to finish his sentance really before the shadowy figures appeared and Nux was skittering to a halt, practically rearing up with a loud yelp.
He moved to grab around the tokota's neck so as to not tumble out of his saddle. "WOAH! Woah Nux, woah!" Hands moved through his fur to pet him, trying to soothe him. The beast whined softly, backing up a step and looked towards the figures. "Hahah! That was clever!" Anik laughed, slowly reigning Nux towards the display. "Nothing to worry about buddy, just a little pop up!"
With a smile he turned to Alaina. "Shall we keep going then?" At least Nux hadn't been too spooked, just startled.
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Cantbreakthis
“Costumes aren’t scary, Anik. They’re ridiculous.” If anything the woman sounded mostly tired at the sheer thought of them having to dress up for… well, anything. Costumes or even fancy dresses. She was a practical woman after all and really wasn’t interested in changing out of her typical day to day wear that was… you know. Actually conductive and functional to her day to day life.
Work honestly and truly really was everything to her. Perhaps that was something that would never honestly and truly change in the long run… especially when given the fact it was what she knew to do best in her life. Relaxing and having fun had simply never been options to her before.
Back home survival had been everything.
“It’s a little best.” Alaina couldn’t help but quipping back but the creature didn’t seem in the least bit concerned over it, flitting and flying about as much as it could without losing them from sight. “But Riggs likes it.” She had to concede that point… her mount had seemed to have grown rather attached to the sprite being around and he was a good enough creature that deserved the little buddy if he liked it.
If she had been given towards laughter perhaps she would’ve laughed towards her companion’s actions as well as his tokota’s. Riggs only looked almost concerned, trying to nose forward a little bit to go check on them but halting almost immediately towards a clicking sound from his rider… knowing the audible commands as well as he did the actual physical gestures.
“C’mon you two.” She finally said, shaking her head as they continued down the trail through the forest. There was the occasional few more popups, the creators of the trail using the trees for their jump scares, but nothing too alarming as that first one now that she was expecting it.
Everything proceeded seemingly well until they reached the corn maze, the path taking them beneath a massive scarecrow… only for some hidden mechanism to suddenly drop massive spiders on the riders. Even Alaina shuddered and flailed a little, Riggs dancing in place a bit to try to keep her on them as she attempt to bat the plastic insects off of herself.
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Mehen
Anik shook his head. Her practicality and workaholic nature was going to be the death of him. He needed to teach her how to lighten up- somehow. That would be a challenge for another day though, because right now he just needed to get them through this course so they could work on trying to win. Winning was important too.
"Well so long as he likes it." He smiled. It was good to make a tokota happy. They were wonderful creatures and he'd do whatever he could to make them happy. Especially the tokotas close to him- those belonging to himself and Alaina.
Now that Nux was calm, he followed her happily, petting his mount as he went. At each of the popups Nux practically leapt out of his skin, but not as bad as the first time.
It wasn't until they reached the maze that there was trouble once more. The minute the spiders dropped on them Nux panicked. It was sudden, unexpected, and they were tangled in his fur! The tokota reared up, his rider barely clinging to him, and then bolted. "WOAH!" Anik cried out, hanging on tight. "Nux, Nux slow down!" Oh he wasn't listening, was he? "ALAINA! TRY TO CATCH UP WHEN YOU CAN!" He called back to her.
Nux wouldn't slow down until they were some distance away. He came to a dead halt, panting as he looked around for his friend- trying to find Riggs as howled to him, hoping he'd respond.
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Cantbreakthis
Willing was really important. Winning was the most important thing that could happen when it came to life… and Alaina was hellbent on succeeding in the long run. It was a good thing after all to have the fire and drive to fight and achieve such a thing. She was proud of her tokotas but especially so of the one that she rode on currently.
Either way the woman offered a one shoulder shrug when it came towards it. Allowing the sprite to stay around was a simple thing even if it was annoying enough in its own right… but she supposed as long as it continued to stick with her mount there was really little harm in it in the long run.
Well that was… certainly something.
Almost as if momentarily shell shocked she remained seated there, perplexity evident on her face as she looked at the post her partner and Nux just were at, but she certainly heard the shout. Meanwhile Riggs moved to nudge a couple of the plastic spiders that had fallen to the ground even as his rider removed the last of them. Oiiii. This could’ve gone better.
“Let’s go try to catch up.” Moving along wasn’t necessarily the easiest; they ended up taking the wrong path once, just briefly, before the other tokota’s howl brought them back on track. The moment he spotted Nux Riggs’ tail started wriggling happily again and he went right up over to him, nudging and nuzzling the other male to make certain he was okay. He had run like he’d just been attacked by something after all! Pack mentality meant you checked on your friends.
“That the last area?” She asked briskly, not commenting on Anik’s sudden flight with his mount, even as she jerked her chin at the cave that loomed before them. There as movement inside… riders dressed as death on black sphinx tokotas that were painted with bones, but she knew they couldn’t be scared off of that.
“Let’s go. We’ll reach the end of this soon enough, won’t we?” Alaina glanced back towards her companion before she nudged Riggs back into movement, allowing for him to pick his own pace as he boldly entered the cave first.
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Mehen
Anik didn't care about winning. Not in the long run. He just cared about his tokotas and their happiness. Of course, winning would be pretty nice too. He figured that Alaina would see that in time!
Nux's face lit up when he saw Riggs. Happy wuffles came from the fluffy tokota as he licked his sphinx friend, his whole butt wiggling with the force of his tail wagging. Spiders fell from his fur, and Anik picked a few more out. "Ahaha that was sure something eh?" He grinned to Alaina as Nux continued to express affection for Riggs.
"Oh, yeah. That's gotta be the cave." He laughed. "Look at the cute skeletokos. What do you think Riggs, look like a good costume for you?" The rider teased the sphinx as he nudged Nux forward. "Come on buddy, just a bit more and then you can have some treats." It wasn't halloween without treats, so he figured it wasn't tokoween without them too.
They entered the cave boldly, striding past the grim riders, and deeper into the cave. "Good thing I've got a flashlight huh?" He asked Alaina as he turned it on, shining it forward and immediately jumping a bit when the beam landed on a skeleton covered in fake gore. "Ew."
That was certainly....something. "Think they've got anything really scary in here?" Maybe there was some big end-of-the-line scare waiting for them. It didn't seem horribly out of place anyways.
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Cantbreakthis
There was nothing better than winning and Alaina really was not going to change her views on the matter. Except for maybe all the work that went into winning… let’s face it the woman would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy that. Because she certainly did. Very much so.
Either way she briefly rolled her eyes skyward even as Riggs nuzzled his buddy again, wuffling a little bit as he knocked a few more of those spiders out of the other tokota’s fur. Considering their tack he wasn’t able to give him the canine-ish version of a hug but he chewed a little bit at the other’s reins, nipping towards Anik’s hands playfully in the process.
“Remind me to keep spiders well away from him.” She didn’t necessarily want them near herself as well but that was a moot point, looking away from her companion and his mount as they headed for the cave. If anything Riggs’ ears were pricked forward in excitement as he stared towards the other tokotas skittering and prancing around, their riders only dimly seen in the dark as they mock threatened the two.
Not really scary per say. Perhaps menacing towards the unsuspecting.
“Oh that… well that’s lovely.” Gore? Really? Of course they had to run into something like that but she shook her head, still completely unimpressed, even as they proceeded further into the cave… until a blinding bright light suddenly snapped on.
If anything Riggs shook his head, temporarily blinded and rooted to spot, and even Alaina had to blink her eyes until the spots faded and.. well that was something now. There were arched bones and fake blood and gristle and gore everywhere in the area but the piece that really brought a low, startled whine to her tokota was the massive grotesquely mutated dire looming over them both. Holy hell. It was only a double take that told her it wasn’t moving nor breathing, it was simply an exceedingly well crafted and realistic creation in all its glory.
“Now that? That’s impressive. I wonder how much work they put into it?” Thoughtful words as she nudged Riggs forward a bit for a better look. Ah well. It could’ve been far worse, right?
Clicking again to the sphinx tokota she moved through the area, looking about carefully, before the exit finally loomed well into sight. “Finally..” A breathed sigh of relief there. They could get home and finally get some proper sleep at this rate.
“That was certainly… something, Anik.” A pause. “Maybe I’ll concede to doing this with you again next year.”
Another. “Maybe.”
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Mehen
Maybe if he gave her something to focus her work ethic on like, well he didn't know. More tokotas perhaps. Maybe it would let her realize that work was better and more enjoyable than winning. He knew she seemed to really enjoy working hard with her tokotas- not that he thought she'd admit to him that she was having fun with it. He was more observant than she probably thought. Just a little bit.
Anik moved to pet Rigg's nose as the tokota neared his head to him, laughing at the nips. "Yeah, yeah. You can have treats too big guy, you think I'm not gonna spoil you too?" As if he'd forget the sphinx. He was always happy to spoil the friendly tokota. Any tokota really, but again, especially those he knew and worked with. Riggs did a good job at basically everything. It was nice.
He should let Nux spend more time with him really.
"Hah!" He laughed. "I don't think it was the spiders, just the whole...suddenly tons of little plastic things on him. I'm not sure he even knows they're supposed to be spiders...but who knows. Tokotas are smart, he might." Anik gave him the benefit of the doubt. "No spiders is probably a good idea though." At least until they could be absolutely sure of what had caused the panic.
Maybe it was the spiders. Maybe it was something else. Either way it was enlightening.
He was glad to see Riggs' contentment towards the other tokotas. Being friendly to other tokos was a good sign, always. It meant a tokota that could work well with others and that was always a benefit to have. Hunting in groups was typically more successful after all.
"Pretty gross...." Anik lamented, frowning. "Not that scary though." Just shocking and gruesome. Maybe other people would be scared by it though, after all this was designed to be a generally scary course, not one catered to each rider. As cool as that would be it was simply implausible.
Then the lights burst on and he let out an audible cry, jerking backwards and falling off of Nux with a loud thud. Nux looked startled, immediately turning to look to his rider. He whined softly as he nudged him with his head, and Anik laughed. "Thanks Nux, I'm okay." He kissed the big creature's nose, and the tokota made a happy noise and licked him.
Slowly he stood back up and looked towards Alaina with a grin as he mounted Nux once more. The scene was sure something. It seemed straight out of a big budget horror movie about evil tokotas and he loved it. Really it seemed like a damn good effort put into it. Nux whimpered again, lowering himself in fear at the sight of the dire and inching away a few paces. "Don't worry buddy, he's not real. Look, he's not moving. Even the best tokota moves a bit!" Trying to assure his mount.
"I love it." He purred, smiling. "That makes this whole trail awesome. Er...awesomer. So much more awesome." Anik was impressed, and he was happy to see that Alaina was impressed too. After all, she'd been pretty skeptical through the whole ordeal. Now, he was glad to see things had paid off.
When she nudged Riggs forward he encouraged Nux to advance as well, following them out of the cave. "Fresh air once more!" He cheered, looking up to the night sky. "Damn it's cold!" Immediately realizing the chill in the air.
"Hey, there's some other things we can try out this year if you want!" He smiled. "I'm glad you thought it was something though!" Really he was delighted. "Now lets go get some of that hot cocoa I promised eh?" A pause. "And some rest, it's been a heck of a night. I had fun though!" All in all, there was promise for the rest of the month at least- and the year to come!
That was just really, really exciting.