Caving Collab (1)

Autumn-Corpse:

Petals dropped lazily against the greening floor, spring had officially tumbled in, though slowly, the winter having dragged on a while, snow having slumped around far into mid-march. Finally it seemed to drizzle away as the hot sun light bored into it, though April had proven no better for spring, raining almost constantly so far, much to the dismay of any hunting teams, who generally struggled to hunt in the wet weather.

Erin however, wasn't much of a fan of hunting, and had no desire to do it anyway, since she couldn't really chase the prey. She much preferred caving, which she was presently on her way to do, Josh, one of his handlers, was presently rested on her back, fingers curled in her mane tightly to make sure he didn't fall off but, he new that Erin was a well trained Tokotas, and he trusted her.

Josh pulled her to a halt outside the cave opening, looking around a little bit, having invited one of his friends along, a little worried that they were late but, he knew they probably weren't far behind them “just w-wait a minute, girl..” he cooed quietly, stroking her mane gently. Erin didn't seem massively bothered, eyes half closed as she stared unseeing at the cave she knew was in front of her, ears twitches forward to listen.

EverestNight:

Kida jolted upright as Jarah hopped over a fallen log that was drenched from the constant rain. The bark was soaked, practically falling off the dead tree itself. She reached out to grab fistfuls of his white mane, steadying herself just in time before she toppled over his side. She hadn’t noticed that she had fallen asleep - didn’t even remember closing her eyes, really. The truth was, she was exhausted. She was the only one hunting for the entirety of her village for the past fortnight, and the burnout effects were starting to catch up to her.

Jarah’s ears perked up once Erin was in sight. His tail began to wag as it had been far too long since the two old Tokotas had seen each other. Kida gripped his sides with her legs as he broke out into a lope to greet her.

“Sorry I’m late,” Kida mumbled to Josh, still half asleep as Jarah pushed his muzzle into Erin’s mane as an obnoxious hello. “Was late waking up. You ready to head inside?”

Her eyes lazily moved to the dark opening of the cave. It was much too dark to see inside, but she was too tired to feel nervous about going in. It had been almost a year since her last caving expedition, and she wanted to be excited, but she still had yet to wake up. Jarah let out a chuff as he leaned forward to sniff the stale, damp air at the cave’s opening.

Kida rubbed at her eyes for a few moments before shooting Josh a smile. “Bit nervous?”


Autumn-Corpse:

Josh blinked softly as he more saw Jarah than heard Kida, though did glance over to her once she spoke, offering a soft smile though it steadily dropped as he took in her appearance, more her face than anything. Frowning a little bit "Are you a-alright...?" He asked, voice gentle, laced with concern, she didn't look like she was really up for this caving trip at all. Josh who was relatively used to Caving trips, didn't much mind them, feeling more nerves than excitement, though his nerves weren't that high on his list of feelings, he more felt... Boredom. He hated caving and diving. He was a far bigger fan of hunting, and it was generally quite obvious. Ikuta and he were generally inseparable, though he loved his other Tokotas, Ikuta shared a common interest with him, and he would be lying if he didn't pick favourites, everyone did.

Erin jumped a bit in surprise at the sudden noises and the nose pressed into her mane, the hairs along her back standing on end, hackles raised for a moment, before the scent of Jarah finally hit her nose. She settled a little bit, though didn't look massively happy at the rude encounter, at least she assumed it was, Josh just assumed the other Tokotas had yet to realise she was blind. Erin gave a couple soft wags of her tail back, letting out a small, low noise, more of a slight growl but not quite long enough to make a proper sound, more of a small grumble, wanting Jarah to know that she wasn't happy with how he'd come up to her. But, once she'd said her peace, she seemed more than happy to be in the other Tokotas presents, preferring to go in cavings with a partner, generally because her partner could actually see in front of them. She moved to gently touch her nose to his muzzle, cold and wet. Though she missed the first couple of times, greeting him. Her attention drifted to the mouth of the cave as Jarah's seem to, her tail flicking lazily as she blinked blindly at it, sniffing, picking up on the damp smell easily, though she couldn't even imagine what the mouth must look like, to her the only thing inside her head was smells and sounds, she had no pictures to go by, no way to imagine what something could look like. Though Erin always thought it be something creepy, unsettling, which his generally how it seemed to feel. She shuffled a little closer to Jarah, not scared or massively nervous, but she was still glad for the company.

EverestNight:

“I’m fine,” Kida said with a tight smile, forcing her voice to be light. She was excited to be out caving with Josh, she rarely had chances to socialize outside of her hunting expeditions, but her usual confidence and pep just wasn’t in her today. She reached into her pack that was tied to the back of Jarah’s saddle pad, digging deep into its contents before pulling out an electric lantern. She smashed her palm on its bottom and flicked the switch on, the small light bulb flickering on and while it was small, it gave off plenty of light. She tied it on the metal ring on Jarah’s saddle and then gave a nod.

“That should be good, I think,” she said. She nudged Jarah gently with her heels, and he obediently walked into the cave’s dark yawning mouth without hesitation. His golden eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness quickly. The cave’s innards were jagged rocks that stuck out at random angles, water leaking and dripping down on to the ground, turning the packed dirt into mud that stuck to the Tokota’s paws. Kida curled her lip in annoyance at the thought of having to bathe Jarah once she got home.

Jarah’s eyes wandered, taking in his surroundings, noticing the glittering blue crystals that twinkled between the cave’s sharp walls.

Autumn-Corpse:

Josh watched her worriedly for a moment, not really thinking she was fine, and although he did want to confront her about it, not thinking it was such a good idea to go on a caving trip when she was clearly exhausted, he didn't want to annoy her. He figured instead that he'd just keep his eye on her, after a moment of hesitation, he slowly tapped Erin's side with his foot, the long-mane easily moving forward, following the other two into the cave