The First Meeting - WF28

Avalik winced when the frigid eye pieces of her binoculars touched her skin. She pulled away with a grimace but forced herself to look through them. She peered down into the valley, searching for her. One of the most beautiful wild Tokotas spotted to date. A series of guttural chuffs and snorts disturbed her concentration.

“You guys,” she looked over her shoulder, ready to scold the Tokotas who were accompanying her, but paused. A smile spread across her face. Almost and Balan, daughter and father, played together in the pristine snow. It was the first time in a very long while that they had seen each other, and Balan was ecstatic to see his little oddity. He was along for the trek as a companion because he was so good with new Tokotas.

Almost threw herself down into a play bow and barked loudly. “Okay, shh!” Avalik scolded her gently. “You’re going to scare her off, you guys need to be quiet until we’ve caught sight of her.”

Balan and Almost stared at the small woman, black lips pulled back into the same smile. They wagged their tails in unison. And then continued to rough house.

Avalik rolled her eyes and returned to her binoculars, looking for ‘her.’

‘She’ was an average-sized Tokota, nothing particularly special about her. Except for her exquisite beauty. Brown coat with hints of barring, and dark markings that ran up her mane and darkened much of her face. It wasn’t clear yet, but there were reports that she was melanistic. Someone hung a blurry photo of her in the bar Avalik frequented back in town, and she knew she had to try to tame her.

When Avalik came to this land, she spent weeks attempting to tame a lovely Chocolate Roan girl, but to no avail. She had gone home with someone else. A second group of wild Tokotas was spotted shortly after, the largest of which was tamed almost immediately, only moments after Avalik managed to lay her eyes on him.

She hoped this girl was a bit more wily, a bit trickier to catch. Eventually, people might start to give up after a few attempts. But Avalik was stubborn. She was more stubborn than a camel, and she wasn’t really sure what a camel was, but she didn’t know the names of any other animals on this planet that were particularly stubborn. Pigs? Cows? She didn’t want to liken herself to such plain barnyard creatures. She imagined the camel to be a majestic four-legged beauty, tall and lithe with a graceful neck.

(Later, after finally looking up an image of a camel, Avalik would regret her metaphors.)

She held her breath. There! Through the pine, the dark beauty came into view.

She turned to her companions and whispered, “Who wants to go make a new friend?”

---

At the base of the hill, they kept their distance. Avalik watched the female for a little while, not entirely sure how to approach her. Should she send Balan out first? It was a tough call, he might scare her off. Maybe she should try to approach her herself, with a handful of treats and hope she might take the bait. Or maybe…

“Almost!” she whispered harshly. The little Toki had wandered off and waddled over towards the melanistic girl.

Almost’s tail wagged behind her little round rear.

The melanistic girl folded her ears back with caution. Surely she had come across other Tokotas, she likely lived in a wild pack deeper in the forest. But whether or not she had seen something as strange as Almost--that was the question. Almost looked like a Tokota, sort-of, she sounded like one…

She breathed a sigh of relief when the dark girl craned her neck forward to sniff at the little Toki. ‘Atta girl, Avalik thought to herself.

Suddenly, the female bounded high into the air and twisted around. She landed on her side, rear in the air, in what seemed to be a lop-sided play bow. The sudden movement took Almost by surprise and she jumped back. The melanistic girl’s tongue lolled out of her mouth and she panted with excitement. She rubbed her face into the snow and sneezed.

“...Oohh-kay…” Avalik had never seen this type of behavior in a wild Tokota before. She was definitely a curiosity.

Now it was Balan’s turn. Almost’s father cautiously approached the pair and stood still, allowing the more submissive female to sniff him all over. The male stood tall with his tail held high to assert his dominance without being aggressive. The darker female submissively circled him twice and then paused in front of him.

Without any warning, she tore off, her huge mane bristling--OH, she’s a barbary!--Avalik realized. Her tail tucked between her legs and she tore around the field, peeking over her shoulder in an attempt to engage Balan to chase her. Much the way Almost does.

Balan looked over his shoulder at Avalik, as if waiting for permission.

“I don’t know what you’re waiting for,” she said to him and waved her hands away, “go on, get her!”

Balan tore off, followed by Almost. The three Tokotas chased one another in the snow, tongues and snow flying. Balan and the wild female wrestled, and Almost tried to get in on the action (though she was content to mostly watch and bark furiously to tell them if they were doing it right.)

After nearly twenty minutes of play, all three Tokos lay in the snow, panting heavily. Almost was on her back, stubby legs in the air, and the melanistic girl was on her side with her head buried in the snow again. Avalik could tell she enjoyed the cold.

With all of the Tokotas so tired out, Avalik wondered if this was her chance.

She, like Almost, was a small thing, and though Tokotas were already big, they were all gargantuan to her. Even Almost was nearly as tall as she, and Almost was a Toki. Avalik was not afraid of much, but an unpredictable, wild Tokota was definitely something to be cautious around. Slowly, she approached the still female in the snow. A grey-brown eye rotated in its socket to look directly at her. She was still breathing heavily from her time of running around with Balan and Almost, but did not move away.

Avalik was so close she could nearly touch her. She studied the roughness of her paw pads, the color of her toenails, the thickness of her fur. By the time her eyes trailed up towards the Tokota’s head, Avalik realized she was sitting up. She had calmed some, and was looking directly at the human.

Avalik wiped one sweaty palm on her pants. And then reached out.

The Tokota didn’t move her head to sniff Avalik’s hand. Avi paused and moved her hand closer, offering the Tokota her palm.

A noise startled all of them. The melanistic girl shot to her feet and bolted, this time not out of play. Avalik groaned and looked to the top of the hill. Others were starting to make their descent, others still were only just arriving. Other Tokotas were in the area, including a supposed 75% Dire-built tundra female. Avalik grimaced. She had a lot of competition. This definitely wasn’t going to be easy.

She whistled loudly, calling Almost and Balan back to her. The father-daughter pair kissed each other on the nose goodbye. “We’ll be back, Balan. Don’t let anyone else take her home, ok?” Balan blinked calmly at her. He couldn’t make any promises.

Avalik waved absently, heaving a heavy sigh, and headed home with her little Toki.