Goats Collection

--------[Mehen]

Korbin was a bit nervous, admittedly, to be out on an actual hunt. It wasn't like he hadn't hunted before of course but hunting with tokotas, that was different indeed. More different than he was used to. It would be a sight to behold, he was absolutely sure of that for a fact. Also probably more than a little violent- though he was no stranger to violence. Typically not bear....dog....thing violence but well, it was all the same on a base level really.

It was only slightly different because this time it was animals. Really he hoped Russell would be okay with this.

He shifted on the back of the tokota he was currently riding, a sleek seal tokota named Dorian- a new addition to Anik's pack. The seal male was apparently quite picky, and prefered a specific saddle, and didn't like to be dirty or cold. According to Anik, Dorian even refused to carry anything that was too heavy for him- or his definition of such anyways. He'd behaved so far at least.

Making up the pack he brought with him from Anik's place were several tokotas. Two hunters- Nux, who had already moved off to attach himself happily to Riggs' side, always eager to see the sphinx around, and Bishop- who was walking calmly beside Ripley, looking rather content. The two were experienced hunters of course, and knew what they were doing.

The rest? Well...it was lucky they weren't actually doing the hunting. The roan male he'd brought with him, Leon, seemed to be alright. He was fairly work oriented, albeit a bit lazy at times. Still, he wasn't properly trained to hunt. Cherry was almost too curious to keep up. She would stop to sniff at rocks and plants and small animals, and then rush ahead to sniff at her new packmates. The group was bigger than she was normally comfortable with but they were all so interesting! She needed to get to know them!

--------[Cantbreakthis]

This was by far not the first hunt that even Russell had been on. He was certainly comfortable with the tokotas by this point, knowing their strengths and weaknesses rather well. It was certainly different but they knew what they were doing for the most part without him getting directly involved.

Or, rather, them. Korbin was with him this time and that was certainly a change of pace now wasn’t it?

He rode on the back of one of Victory’s children – Quartz, a solid and steady male piebald roan male. With him he had quite the collection – Alaina’s preferred hunters as well as a few others. From time to time Quartz checked to see what Cherry was doing but continued forward easily enough.

The hunters were well on their point. Riggs was by far too distracted by Nux but that was commonplace. Ripley and Steele on the other hand paid little attention to the others – both females respectively utterly focused on the hunt itself.

Meanwhile poor Roswell was stuck between the tokis Pickle and Riley and looked utterly miserable for their antics and efforts, long suffering. He was a new pretty thing, extended dun and all, but he was proud and vain to the point he didn’t seem to know nor understand what to make of the stubby tokotas.

“We should be almost there. Nevah thought Anik would send ya out with me.” Russ couldn’t help but to tease his lover playfully as he moved to pet the side of Quartz’s neck fondly, completely comfortable up there on the saddle. Really the young man was slowly coming into his own.

Steele audibly growled, a low sound, before she broke forward a bit more than the others. The militant female couldn’t help it now could she? She could smell the herd of goats from here, know from prior experience both by hunting and watching just what this meant, and she honestly wanted to get the show on the road. Riggs and Ripley both seemed to sense her excitement and moved a little bit quicker to catch up.

After some coaxing and wriggling Roswell managed to get away from the two tokis to bound over to Cherry, preferring to stick by the female’s side for the moment. This could only mean that Pickle and Riley moved away towards one of the others… finally zeroing in on the lone male, Leon, to mob and bounce at. The siblings worked well in tandem seeking to nip playfully at his legs, ears, and tail to try to entice him to play.

--------[Mehen]

Of course, Russell had been out a lot more on these things. Korbin had chosen to stay behind to learn some of the finer details of tokota care- vet care, maintenance, things like that. Getting out in a hunt was certainly something interesting though.

Cherry would look up from her wanderings to peek at her brother, tail wagging. She was glad he was along with her, always enjoying spending time with him- though she knew not to bother him too much when he had a rider on his back. It was just a polite thing to do.

Nux licked Riggs' face, tail waggng a mile a minute, absolutely thrilled to be with his best friend. They were definitely a bonded pair of tokotas, nothing anybody could do about that now. Even if they wanted to anyways. At least Ripley and Steele were focused, and Bishop as well was clearly set on the task at hand. There was no sense of distraction in the snow roan's steps.

It was easy to feel bad for poor Roswell, stuck with the two stumpy tokis who clearly didn't want to leave him alone. In the same vein though, it was also pretty hilarious to watch in action.

"I asked to go, actually. I figured it's about time I do some hunting too." He was curious how it all worked after all, and calmly he patted Dorian's neck as well. "You look good in the saddle." He smiled, genuinely meaning the compliment. Russell seemed to be a natural, and though he himself felt quite comfortable on the back of the seal male, he wondered if he could even come close to the grace that Russell had atop his mount.

It seemed unlikely.

He heard the albino growl, and he looked up. That had to mean they were onto something, right? The hunters seemed suddenly even more alert and ready to go, and remembering his instructions from Anik he whistled the tone to begin their hunt. They had the scent, they knew what to do.

Cherry sniffed at the male as he drew closer, but didn't get all up in his space about it. She just wanted to know who he was and what he was up to. When she was satisfied with her answers she would go back to sniffing at the ground curiously, and not bothering him.

The moment the tokis rushed Leon, the roan male made a startled sound at first, before settling down when he realized they weren't a sudden threat lunging for him. Were they...puppies? He seemed confused by them, but contently fell into play with them, moving to playfully nip back, bouncing into a play bow before hopping a bit, definitely in the mood to entertain them at the very least.

--------[Cantbreakthis]

In the long run the young redhead had needed to contribute somehow. Considering care and vet work were very much so beyond the younger man he had to resort to hunting and fishing for Alaina the times when she was too busy otherwise to head out there. It was good work at the very least even if the tokotas did most of it.

He just helped haul it back after all. Alaina skinned and gutted the prey when they managed to get back to her place.

Quartz wasn’t able to pay too much attention to his sister alas. Perhaps he’d be able to visit with her later – they weren’t close or anything like that, but it was always good to be able to catch up a little bit with family.

Needless to say Alaina almost certainly disliked that, but she wasn’t here to stop them. Nux and Riggs had all the time in the world to be able to spend with one another while out on the hunt – even if there were indeed things they needed to be focused on as well. Whoops.

Roswell moved to hide on the other side of Cherry, not wanting to deal with the tokis again. Nubby little beasts that they were they were certainly a trip and a half to deal with. He didn’t know what to do with them.

Thankfully their attention was by far much more distracted with the new male, Leon. At the very least he was playing back! Fearlessly Riley went nose to nose with him, tail wagging to show she was friendly, but she was also serving as the distraction while Pickle slunk around try to tug the male’s tail.

“It’s not so hard. I like how quiet it is out here sometimes.” It was good for him to think, to clear his head and simply breathe… something he didn’t often get to do back home. The compliment caused him to flush a little bit and he stammered a thanks.

Now that she had the scent Steele didn’t need to be asked twice. The albino female was off, making a well-planned beeline for the goats. They were a young herd made up of mostly yearlings and were unaware of the attack before it was too late.

With a snarl Steele all but exploded upon the crowd, jackknifing her weight forward and clamping down hard on one of the goats’ legs, sending the poor little beast spinning and bawling. Riggs joined her immediately and a vicelike clamp of jaws on its throat swiftly ended its life.

Meanwhile Ripley swing wide, cutting off the goats’ path and charging… driving them back towards the other tokotas without a hitch, taking out first one than another of the younger goats who weren’t quite able to keep up with the others and get away. The roan knew her way in a hunt after all.

--------[Mehen]

He'd been utterly fascinated with the medical care and keeping of the beasts, they were similar to canines, but not quite the same. Closer, he thought, to large carnivorous horses. They required a lot of care and attention to keep them in perfect condition, and he was absorbing all of this knowledge. It would come in handy once he and Russell were on their own with their tokotas.

He wanted the best for their beasts though, and with a hint from Anik that he had a surprise in the works for him, he thought that perhaps he would be having one of his own soon.

Cherry didn't mind that Quartz was distracted by having a rider. They could relax together some other time, it wasn't like they were kept apart all the time anyways. Besides, she knew after hunts they would be allowed to relax for a bit before heading home, and that was good. The male hiding behind her was amusing though, she couldn't understand why he was so afraid of the tokis. They were fun!

Leon moved forward to boop her nose with his when Riley moved in front of him, and completely fell for it. He yelped when Pickle grabbed his tail, whirling around to whine at him and try to shake him off. He knew he was playing but OW that hurt!

"Nature is beautiful." Korbin smiled. "We should go fishing in the valley sometime, together. That should be relaxing....or just go on a trail ride." He was clearly losing himself to the thought of just being out in nature. That would be wonderful. Russell's blushing was cute, and he chuckled softly. Wow his boyfriend was wonderful.

As Riggs finished off the goat that Steele had practically thrown, Nux rushed forward to grab another goat that had dashed near them. He slammed into it, dragging it down and finishing it off quickly. In a flash he rushed off to grab another, finishing that quickly as well. He knew they needed goats, lots of goats!

Bishop was quick to snap up two more goats, bringing down the first by simply slamming headlong into it and snapping it's neck quickly. The second went down with more of a struggle, but he handled it quickly and efficiently.

By the time the hunt was done they had a good pile of goats, and Nux set to work helping Bishop haul some back. When they got there, Korbin dismounted from Dorian, moving to help Russell load the goats up on some of the tokotas they brought with them. As he did so, Dorian groaned, hoping they weren't going to saddle him up with goats. Luckily, they did not.

Excellent.

Korbin swung back up onto him and looked over at Russell. "Guess we should head back, we got a good haul of goats." Alaina and Anik should be satisfied with what they brought back. Their hunt had definitely gone well.

Now they just had to make it back home and relax for awhile. It would definitely be a good rest of the day.