"You know," Ghost said, leaning down to sniff at the pile of flowers,  "if I was a spirit, I'd make sure my loyal followers know to only leave edible gifts as offerings. Why anyone thinks Aippaq would appreciate wilted flowers and old animal pelts is beyond me."

Lothal huffed. "If you were one of the spirits, Tokotna would be doomed." He shouldered the smaller tokota out of the way and leaned down to check out the pile of offerings himself. The earthy smell of the forest clashed with the more manufactured scent of village-life coming off the flowers, pelts, and trinkets. It sent an involuntary shudder through him.

"Excuse me?" Ghost said indignantly. "I would be a great spirit. Fair and gentle, but just a little bit demanding so my followers don't get out of line. Plus, fun. If I existed as an energy being there would be so many cool things to try. I bet the other spirits would be fun to prank."

"Aippaq would feed you to Meelanik in a week," Lothal stated deadpan. He shifted some of the flowers away from the base of the rock and tried to get a better reading on the varied scents coming from the pile of offerings.

Behind him, Ghost smiled happily. Hearing some of Lothal's snarkiness come back was a huge relief to him. He understood these last few months had been hard on everyone, but Ghost hated how much of a toll it seemed to be taking on his brother. Especially with Tokoween now fast approaching, which meant winter wasn't far away — and they all knew there wasn't enough prey in the area to support all the newly formed tokota packs. The fact that Specter Pack didn't have any pups would make it a bit easier for them, but it was still going to be a difficult winter.

"So," Ghost spoke up after a minute of letting the other investigate, "what's your professional opinion?

Lothal stepped back and frowned at the rock as if it were a puzzle that needed to be solved. Which wasn't an unfair assessment really. Something weird was happening here, and the idea of endangering the temporary ceasefire between the packs was frightening to say the least.

"It doesn't make sense," Lothal said at last. "Tokotas leaving offerings for Aippaq isn't exactly new, but usually that's done at the Soul Pool or Aippaq's Shrine. Why is everyone in this region suddenly leaving them at random spots in the forests?" He shot a glance at his little brother and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What did you find out during your reconnaissance?"

The tiny tundra perked up immediately, glad to have some useful input. "I talked to a few of the tokos in the nearby villages. Apparently the locals have been freaked out these past couple weeks. They believe Aippaq is angry and is haunting the area. They've been setting up little offering sites like this one all over the forest. Some of them put things on their doorstep at night to appease him; like they think he won't hurt them if they leave something for him."

"Since when has Aippaq ever been considered a vengeful spirit?" Lothal muttered, speaking more to himself than his packmate.

Ghost considered the rhetorical question seriously for a minute before sighing. "This is really more Snowfrost's area of expertise."

"Yes, well, he's not available right now, is he?" Lothal shot back harshly.

Ghost winced. "You know he must have had a good reason for leaving," he said gently. "I'm sure he'll be back before the first snowfall."

The other toko didn't respond as he turned away from the shrine and began walking deeper into the forest. Ghost hurried to catch up, deciding it was best not to press the issue right now.

He hadn't realized how much Snowfrost's leaving was a sensitive topic for Lothal. Being Specter Pack’s omega and lore keeper, Snowfrost wasn’t exactly vital to  the survival of the pack at the moment — since most of their efforts were currently focused on gathering food and protecting their territory’s borders from raids. As such, the pack leaders tended to give him a fair bit of leniency when it came to his frequent journeys into the wilderness. But Ghost knew that Lothal was upset with what he’d referred to as Snowfrost’s "tendency to neglect his duties to the pack" and that he was beginning to question their friend’s loyalty to Specter Pack.

Lothal stopped abruptly, Ghost pulling to a halt beside him. They had traveled a good distance into the foothills and were now in a small clearing with a cave in the cliff face before them.

"What’s wrong?" Ghost asked.

The larger tokota shook his head. "I’m not sure," he admitted quietly.  "Something doesn’t feel right." He stood silently for several minutes, ignoring the restless shifting of his brother. Not seeing or hearing anything suspicious, he finally stepped forward. "The scent trail ends here," he told Ghost. "Whatever was collecting those offerings, it came to this cave afterward."

"Right," Ghost breathed nervously, "So this is the part where we go get some of our other — bigger — packmates?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He huffed out a laugh. "Of course not. This is where we bravely but foolishly charge in all on our own… and end up being eaten by a vengeful spirit."

"It’s not a spirit," Lothal replied, ignoring the sarcasm. "Aippaq wouldn’t harass tokotas for some flowers and animal skulls. But somebody is terrorizing those villagers, and we need to figure out who it is. If this is somehow tied into the pack disputes, it could cause problems for our temporary truce."

They advanced on the cave cautiously, treading as silently as possible over the rough ground. A faint breeze was blowing through the clearing so they made sure to keep downwind during their approach. It became obvious, though, that the cave must be empty; not a single odor or sound was carrying on the breeze.

"You know this is exactly how every horror story starts, right?" Ghost whispered to his brother. "Couple of people see something mysterious in a cave, barn, cabin, whatever, and go investigate on their own instead of calling for backup. Next thing you know, they’re screaming in terror and their bodies are only found after it's too late to make a retreat."

Lothal rolled his eyes. He never understood half of Ghost’s references to village culture, and often found it best to ignore him. He knew that, despite now living in the wild, his little brother would never really stop being a farmer at heart.

Reaching the mouth of the cave, the tokos peeked inside. It was almost disappointing. Inside was a small chamber with a dirt floor and a high ceiling. There was a pile of old animal pelts and bones in the corner, and absolutely nothing else.

"Well, that’s anti-climactic," Ghost remarked, not bothering to disguise the relief in his voice. "Looks like no one’s home."

Leading the way inside, Lothal checked the pile in the corner. "Pretty sure these were some of the offerings those villagers left for Aippaq. And some of them are at least a couple weeks old."

"So some animal dragged them off?" Ghost asked.

"I don’t think so. This cave smells wrong. It almost smells like a tokota has been living here, but not quite. There’s something really off about the scent and I don’t know what." He huffed in frustration as his eyes scanned the floor for any sign of pawprints. "This makes no sense at all."

Still standing near the cave’s entrance, Ghost felt a strange shift in the breeze. He shivered uncomfortably. His instincts were agreeing with Lothal’s assessment of the situation; something was very wrong here. And suddenly his curiosity was overridden by his desire for survival. His fight-or-flight instincts were kicking into gear, and leaning entirely towards the flight end of the spectrum.

As he was about to voice his desire to leave, the breeze picked up in intensity and swirled through the cave. A strange black mist rolled in on the current and settled over the pile of offerings.

"Lothal?" Ghost asked hesitantly.

"I don’t know," his brother muttered back.

The mist roiled angrily for a few moments before coalescing into a distinct body shape. It dissipated slightly, leaving behind what looked like a massive black tokota. Its body was almost akota-like in build and the fur was long and tangled. Fangs and tusks protruded from its snarling mouth. A pair of colorless eyes glared down at them.

Ghost swallowed hard. "I think," he said shakily, "I think I won our bet, Lothal. Definitely a vengeful spirit."

The beast raised its head and let out a chilling howl. One massive paw planted itself on the ground, followed quickly by the others. The creature stalked forward, a snarl on its lips.

Ghost stood frozen as he watched it approach. His mind screamed at him to run for his life, but his legs didn't seem to be getting the message.

A much less intimidating snarl filled the cave as Lothal lowered his head and bared his teeth. His tail twitched back and forth as he stood ready.

Wait, Ghost thought incredulously, he isn't planning on fighting that thing, is he?! That would just figure. Why couldn't he have a brother with a healthy sense of self preservation? Or one who wouldn't enter creepy, possibly-haunted caves in the first place?

Taking a deep breath, Ghost planted himself beside his brother and did his best to look fierce. It wasn't an easy feat to accomplish, seeing as how he was smaller than the average tokota and built more for stealth than strength. Well, that, and the annoying fact that he couldn't seem to stop shaking.

The creature lunged with claws flashing in the light from the cave's entrance. Lothal leapt forward a split second later, meeting it in midair. His teeth sunk into the hairy shoulder and a giant paw landed on his midsection at the same time. Both fighters yelped in pain as they struggled against each other. Lothal desperately tried to maintain his grip on his opponent, but another blow dislodged him completely. Panting heavily, he backed up a few paces and prepared for another attack.

It was the sight of the blood on his brother's side that finally shook Ghost from his panic-induced stupor. That smear of red on the cream-brown coat shook loose any sense of cautiousness he still had and filled the tiny tokota with rage. A snarl ripped from his throat as turned to face the beast. Without stopping to consider how blatantly stupid this course of action was, Ghost leapt at their attacker.

A howl of pain and rage erupted from the monster as Ghost's razor-sharp teeth sunk into his neck.

Ew! he thought distantly as he ducked to avoid an incoming claw. Tastes like tar.

He could see Lothal on the other side of the creature's head, fighting back stubbornly. Maybe if they could coordinate their attacks…

Oh, who am I kidding? We're completely toast.

The thought had barely passed through his mind when a flash of orange caught his attention. A fourth figure was suddenly in the cave with them, launching itself straight at the massive beast. The newcomer didn't go for a direct approach, instead landing to the side of their opponent and snapping quickly at its hind leg before sliding underneath it and popping out on the other side. He jumped at the rock wall beside them, using it to springboard himself into the air and landing on the monster's back.

At first, Ghost thought their unexpected ally was a humongous fox, but he could see now that it was definitely a tokota. His coat was a bright orange and his build thin and foxy. A pair of blue-green eyes flashed angrily as his teeth locked on the back of his opponent's neck and dug in hard.

The beast snarled as it tried desperately to shake off its new attacker. But the newcomer simply let go and dropped to the ground beside it, latching onto its leg instead. Lothal and Ghost used the opportunity to jump back into the fight, renewing their own efforts against the creature.

Apparently deciding they were no longer worth the effort, the monster reared back on its haunches, released one last howl of rage, and dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

The three tokotas stood in the middle of the cave, breathing hard, not speaking as they attempted to recover from the fight.

After taking a moment to assess his own condition, Ghost flew to Lothal’s side, worriedly checking his wound for signs of trouble. The larger toko tried to wave off his concern, but Ghost knew his brother well enough to realize that it must be hurting him pretty bad. It didn’t look too deep, but he really didn’t have the medical expertise necessary to make a judgement call on it.

"We need to get back to base-camp and have Cameron take a look at that," he decided.

"We will," Lothal panted, his eyes shifting to the third member of the group. "Just give me a minute to catch my breath."

Ghost had a strong suspicion that Lothal’s real reason for waiting was because he didn’t trust this new tokota. With pack tensions being so precarious, they couldn’t risk leading a potential spy back into their territory. Understanding the necessity of caution, Ghost didn’t argue the decision.

The orange tokota was busy inspecting the pile of debris in the cave. With a sniff of disgust, he quickly scattered the pile, shoving several of the bones outside before he was seemingly satisfied with his work. He glanced at them curiously as he re-entered the chamber.

"Picking fights with dark spirits isn’t exactly the best idea," he stated calmly. "It was only a common spirit, but there’s no telling how many others are in the area."

"Well, he started it..." Ghost muttered irritably.

"That’s not much of an excuse," he replied flatly. There was no way of telling from his facial expression if he was joking or not. He glanced at them  appraisingly and asked, "So, who exactly are you, anyway?"

"I'm Ghost, and this is Lothal," the small toko introduced them. "And you would be…?"

"My name's October."

"You don't have any pack markings," Lothal said, voice tight with pain.

"Neither do you," October responded casually.

Lothal's eyes narrowed. "Our pack only formed a few months ago. We aren't fully established yet. You aren't from this region, are you?"

Other than a single ear twitch, October didn't display any outward sign of annoyance at that question. And yet he still hesitated just a moment too long before responding, as if debating how much information to reveal to them. "You're right, I'm from the Western regions. Came up through the Deadlands."

"Why would you want to come here?" Ghost asked in surprise. "Traveling through the Deadlands is no joke. And it's not like we have any better hunting grounds to offer."

"Plus, I thought your people have a thing against the packs of this region," Lothal added.

The orange tokota pointedly ignored the question. "Speaking of moving," he remarked, "I highly recommend leaving this cave before we invite even more trouble."

"We have to get back to our basecamp," Ghost said, shooting a meaningful glance at Lothal’s wound. "We have a pack healer, if you’re injured?"

October’s ear twitched again. "No need. It didn’t get any hits on me. Not my first time fighting creatures like that."

Lothal eyed him carefully. "I don’t suppose you’d know why a common dark spirit would be in the area?"

"It’s something I’m looking into, actually. Spirit activity in general has increased these last few weeks. Villagers in the coastal areas are even claiming to have seen Aippaq and Sikrinerk. As if. Do you have any idea  how many seals live in that area?"

Ghost blinked. "Uh… okay?"

Lothal opened his mouth to ask something else, but quickly closed it again as a wince crossed his face. "Okay," he said to Ghost, "you’re right, we should probably get back to camp now."

A rush of concern spread through Ghost as he noticed how unsteady his brother looked. He turned back to October. "I don’t suppose we could finish this discussion once we’ve reached the rest of the pack? I could use some help getting him home."

October frowned and flicked his tail impatiently. He murmured something indistinct which Ghost couldn’t quite hear.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Not talking to you," October muttered. He flicked his tail again and his frown deepened. "Fine. Fine. I get it. Okay, I’ll go with you as far as your camp.  How long of a walk is it?"

"Not far," Ghost promised, although he wasn't sure if it was to reassure October or himself. There was something so obviously wrong with this tokota, and it was beginning to put him on edge. He really wished Lothal were still at one-hundred-percent, because he wasn’t sure he could take on the foxy toko if necessary. "It’s only a few hours’ walk. We should make it there long before dark."

October nodded and took up position on the other side of Lothal, who wasn't even attempting to keep up with the conversation anymore. "Alright then. Let’s get going."

They set off with October and Ghost using their shoulders to help support Lothal’s weight between them. Ghost hoped that his prediction of a short walk would prove true. He really didn’t want to be stuck in this forest at night, accompanied only by one injured tokota and one possibly untrustworthy tokota.

Ghost sighed. No matter how many hours it ended up taking them, he knew the trip couldn’t end fast enough for him.