A Rose by Any Other Name // 1

Renor slid down from Kalath’s back, he had caught sight of movement in the forest ahead of them, and he was rarely comfortable on the tokota for long, if ever. Recently a few wild tokota had been spotted in the area around here, and Renor had decided that it would be a good idea to see if he could observe them. Find out if they were aggressive, or anything else important about them. There were a number of them, but one of their number was a long-maned black, gray, and white tokota.

The earliest parts of the hour had seen spring in full bloom, but even with the day lengthening a bit the weather was still beautiful. They had done a lot of traveling today, and it was looking more like the next several days would see more if the wild tokota decided to stick around. The sky was still gray, and with the light fading the warmth from earlier was starting to fade as well. It made Renor glad of Kalath’s presence and the many layers of cloth around him.

With the forest all around them he could not see the mountains or even the valley with all of its deer any longer. Just forest all around them that made up most of the territory that he and the pack called home. The forest marked the edge of their territory, and it was their main source of sustenance as well. He had noted earlier of course that this had changed with the coming of the widely varied hooved creatures that had begun to migrate into the valley now behind him.

It was unlikely they would find any of the deer in the forest that they avoided, they prefered to travel the length of the valley to feed on the new flowers and grasses that grew in it. Not to mention that they were avoiding his pack of tokota whom had marked the forest as theirs. Though he had caught sight of one or two braver members of the herds, for the most part they remained together where the safety of their numbers kept them from becoming easy prey.

Of course migratory herds were still small, but that too would soon change. Toktoa and deer alike were drawn to the valley. The deer for the abundance of easy growth and the tokota for the deer who fed upon it in great number.

It was why Renor had brought Kalath to check the valley, and why he was here in the forest now to catch the flicker of motion that suggested they were not alone in it. He had determined that if they were likely to catch sight of the wild tokota he would find them near the valley, and the forest was close to the valley.

It was not easy to catch sight of what he had seen just a second ago out of the corner of his eye. The tokota was very dark in color, and she slipped in and out of the shadows with an easy grace born to most hunters. The pale coloring along her back and belly, where it touched her mane and tail made it all the more difficult to spot her in the half light that remained to them. She moved like a ghost through the twilight, ethereal and beautiful.

He had heard rumors from the traders about the various wild tokota, but this one they had not had much to say about and he could not see why. She was cautious and quiet, her ears often perking up as if the least amount of noise might send her running away for cover. He had never seen a tokota quite as cautious as this one, but her caution and her quiet steps made her a true challenge to follow without her possibly noticing either one of them.

Slowly but surely Renor and Kalath shadowed her footsteps, watching her as she made her way through the trees with her delicate steps. Every time she paused they were forced to stop as well, pausing in mirror of her own movements to keep from revealing their location behind her.

Kalath was less interested in studying her as he had been in the golden dire earlier, though Renor could not have said why he was. It made him note the male’s opinion again however. He would have to ask Kalath later why he had been so curious about the other female, but for now he did not want to speak and scare the black and white toned tokota in front of them away. He almost felt as though even his thoughts might cause her to evaporate into the growing darkness.

Renor lost track of how long they followed the female, but after a time he laid a hand on Kalath’s shoulder and drew the tokota up short. He watched the female pause as well, her eyes shifting through the trees cautiously before like a wary deer she continued on her way. Undoubtedly she knew if not that she had been followed that she was in the territory of other tokota. Renor knew that Kalath and the others of his pack had marked this entire forest. To some extent he had even encouraged it so that other tokota were less likely to wander in unknowingly. A tokota would have had to be practically nose deaf to come into the forest unaware. So perhaps she had entered purposefully.

She did not seem the sort to try and challenge another tokota, and certainly not without warning, so it seemed unlikely that she was here looking for territory of her own, but it left him wondering still what her purpose here was. If she was looking for prey… why not head down into the valley where prey was readily available and easy to find? Perhaps she simply did not like such open spaces. She seemed cautious enough for that.

Regardless of the reason Renor could admit to a certain amount of healthy curiosity about the wild tokota and what she was doing here. Still he let her slip away and turned Kalath toward the cave with another small touch. Perhaps she had indeed come purposefully, and perhaps she would find her way to their cave for whatever purpose that was. Renor glanced at Kalath. Since the male had completed his rites he still had yet to show much of an interest in fathering a litter, but that did not mean that a female might not show an interest in him knowing that he was the leader of this small pack Renor called a family.

A male in charge of so many certainly could have been seen as attractive by a female. However Renor was not going to put too much faith in that as the reason until he knew for certain what had drawn the darkly colored and long maned female close to their cave. After all, she might merely be passing by, and tomorrow when he came to find out if the wild tokota were still in his area, perhaps she, and the others as well would be gone.

One could never tell what tomorrow would bring, but Renor knew that the wild tokota would remain on his mind long into the night until all of them passed on their way to wherever it was that they were headed. He did like the idea of the dark female visiting however. He smiled at Kalath a little. Yes, if she stopped by one day or night, he would welcome her to their fire and find out what more he could about the shy female who was haunting their forest.

                                                                      - End -

-Elm