Unwanted Companions - Diredays Task 3

After finding the collar on that female dire within the pack, rumours spread through the research team like wildfire. It was all pretty common behaviour from their sort really, those scientific types... First sign of danger and they all would try and run back to a safe place. That very nearly cost them the research that everyone was working so hard on... In fact the researchers were planning their escapes already, then a few of the Tokota handlers had banded together and told them how utterly ridiculous it was to abandon all their research just because there -might- be someone else in the mountains. Besides, the chances were very slim that these other people would come anywhere near the base camp because really, who would want to mess with that many people with Tokotas? Or at least that was what the handlers had decided to tell the researchers, to ease their minds a little. The truth was that none of them really knew what these bandits were capable of, or what they would do, after all the base camp had a lot of expensive equipment and various samples, and tracking devices, which could all turn quite the profit. But their lies seemed to calm the scientists down enough for them to continue their research without too much fuss... So they were at least somewhat reasonable in their logic? So it was settled, although as an additional course of action, the handlers did have to take it in turns to go scouting on the mountainside to assess how safe it really was, but that wouldn't be too bad.
One thing that none of them really seemed to get over was just how beautiful the sunrises were up in the mountains. So much that even Mana, who typically enjoyed sleeping in a little bit, woke up early on several occasions to make sure she could see the sun rise. Liam, on the other hand, was always awake at that time anyway, but still, even he seemed to enjoy taking a few minutes out of his busy morning routines to sit back and watch the way the colours extended across the sky. Tagii would always exclaim in surprise about the various shades of red, and orange, knitting together like a painting above them before finally breaking into the blue of the day. Chobin was more inclined to watch in quiet wonder until the sun broke free of the mountains.

With such an important task given for the day by the researchers, there was plenty of preparation work to be done in the morning. Liam was running backwards and forwards between tents, moving things around and fetching anything that they could possibly need for their scouting, even some things for highly unlikely situations... Just in case. He was really doing Mana's head in... In fact he was definitely stressing her out more than the actual task at hand was... Then again, she was usually the calmer of the two when it came to situations like this, and she knew she could handle herself in a fight, in fact she relished the thought that she might get one... Though the preparation stuff wasn't her cup of tea, so Liam took that, meanwhile she tended to the Tokotas, sticking more or less to her regular routine when back at the tribe. Feeding, grooming, tending to the tack as that needed to be protected from the cold and the temperamental weather in the higher altitude... She didn't really see what her brother was making such a fuss over, after all, this wasn't any different to any of the other times they had gone out into the mountains. Not really. Though it did have the potential to get interesting, so there was that... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

The sun was still fairly low in the sky when the two handlers started to make their move away from base camp, their two Tokotas following cautiously at their handlers' heels to try and keep their balance on the uneven land. With his much longer stride, Arrax seemed more confident at first, as he was able to choose which patches of land he stepped on, but his enjoyment was ceased when he realised that Roman actually did have the advantage. His smaller, lighter body meant he was faster on his feet, and could be more careful, making it easier for him to move. The dire wasn't overly pleased at this, but Mana quickly soothed him with a gentle stroke through his mane. Having just the four of them was pleasant... Quiet... Calming... It really was a shame that it wasn't going to stay this way for the rest of the day.

Waiting for them just outside of the base camp were the brothers that they had initially travelled up to base camp with, through the storm. Their four Tokotas were tacked up and bickering amongst themselves just as they had been the last time Liam and Mana had seen them. The two grey Tokotas, Calisvar and Dezka Liam recalled them being called, in particular seemed to be fighting amongst themselves. The half mane, Boris, was trying to sort out the spat, but he seemed too aggressive to act as a proper mediator. The smallest of the pack, Edmund, seemed to be the calmest of all their tokotas, and was tugging against his lead in an attempt to get away from the scuffle.

“You have got to be kidding me...”
“Liam, don't be rude.” Though Mana didn't seem overly impressed by the idea of the two brothers going along with them either.
“Ve would like to join. Dangerous to go alone.” Chobin, the older of the two brothers, stepped forward until he was practically chest to chest with Liam, almost as if he were challenging him to say no despite wording it as a request. He and his brother were just as capable as Liam and Mana were... Though he seemed to step back once more fairly quickly when he realised that this was getting him nowhere, as Liam made no sign of changing his opinion due to the display. Maybe it was a little less intimidating when you had to look up to meet your challenger's eyes... Although if that was the case, then Mana had perfected her ability at intimidation, despite being between his and Tagii's height. Changing tactic, Chobin looked at the pair of handlers and breathed out a small sigh. He turned his attention more to Mana as he spoke. “Ve only want help. Return favour.”

For just a brief moment in time, Liam's eyes drifted over to meet his sister's gaze, and then without a single word having to pass between them, it was decided. The two lion boys would be going along with them, as would their four unpredictable Tokotas that Liam was not overly fond of...

Arrax didn't seem too pleased with their new company, although Mana knew exactly how to handle him, as this was quickly remedied when they all mounted up and he was moved into the front of the group to lead the way. The grey dire seemed to calm down a little after that, although if any of Chobin and Tagii's Tokotas came too close to him, he would growl his response. Roman was never really any trouble, and this wouldn't change, so Liam wasn't having too much trouble, aside from keeping out of the way of the others when they moved too close. Roman was trustworthy, whereas they had done nothing to earn his trust. Even with as much help as Roman was trying to provide in keeping the peace, the four Tokotas were a strange bunch. Edmund and Boris were mostly staying out of the way as their handlers made them, however the two grey Tokotas from before were still at it, fighting over what little dominance they imagined they had over one another. This continued on until Boris was allowed to remind them that he was the leader, though after that things were definitely much calmer.

There had been rumours that bandit activity had been spotted down in one of the valleys, so that was where the group decided to begin their search. After all, if the sightings were genuine then even if they weren't there any more as they had moved off to somewhere else, they might be able to find clues as to where they had gone. Even for those experienced in Tokota smuggling, which these probably were not, moving Tokotas without leaving any trace behind was nearly impossible. If they really had captured Fenrir and were keeping him against his will, as the researchers had told Liam, then it definitely wasn't going to be easy to keep him under control. Having thought of stealing the dire male before, several times in the past, though of course she wouldn't, Mana knew a few things about what they could expect from the bandits, and told them as much on the way there. Chobin and Tagii seemed a little confused by Mana's willingness to admit that she had thought about stealing him, but Liam barely reacted. He wasn't overly surprised by the knowledge... His sister did have a soft spot for the dires...

Finding the correct valley was actually a lot easier than anyone had imagined it would have been. These bandits weren't hiding their activities very well, possibly as they had been uninterrupted for so long prior? So after only a few hours of searching, the small group had arrived in the valley and although it had been difficult, they had skirted around the bandit camp and were watching from a ledge above them, hidden in the vegetation.

Roman was easy enough to hide. He wasn't particularly large, and he knew not to move unless told to. Arrax was a little harder... He knew not to move, or make a sound, but his larger body size made things a little more difficult in terms of keeping him hidden. Luckily enough, the ledge had a few larger rocks that the grey dire could blend into as long as he remained still, and no one from the bandit camp below paid too much attention to their surroundings. Despite being various shapes and sizes, even Chobin's four Tokotas weren't too much additional trouble to hide... Which surprised everyone involved, though Chobin wasted no time in puffing his chest out a little to Liam.

Fenrir had indeed been captured by the bandits... He was muzzled, chained and appeared to be sedated, if the dire's slow breathing was anything to go by. He was being kept away from the rest of the camp, though backed up against the rocks so that he couldn't escape. It was fairly thought out, which was strange considering how half baked everything else about their operation seemed to be. With how different the various approaches seemed to be, it was hard to believe that these bandits were even capable of some of the things that the group of handlers knew that they had done... The tracking collar for instance... these lot didn't seem like the type to want to do something like that... And holding onto Fenrir instead of just selling him? Why?

Although they wished they had the time to further question it, a yelp sounded from beside them, the bushes shaking as Calisvar and Dezka started their tussling again, with his maw locked around Dezka's back leg. The two were completely unaware of the horrified looks on the faces of the handlers. Boris joined them, growling and snapping at the two grey Tokotas to restore the balance, but the harm was done already. Chobins proud breast fell immediately, outwardly furious, and inwardly embarrassed in front of other handlers.

Mounting up very quickly, Liam and Mana ignored the other two handlers who were trying to get their Tokotas back under control and dashed for the bandit camp. Jumping down from the ledge, using several smaller ones to limit the drop, they landed in the camp with their weapons drawn.

For such a large scale operation, there weren't actually very many bandits... Luckily enough for the handlers, as they had no plan whatsoever. And their sudden appearance had surprised those that had been in the camp, giving them a temporary advantage. Just long enough to make their way over to where Fenrir was being kept without much trouble.

On the other side of the camp, Chobin and Tagii, now in control of their four Tokotas, were meeting very little real resistance considering. The bandits fought, trying to defend their operation, but their hand to hand combat was nothing to the already aggressive Tokotas, who used everything in their arsenal to their advantage. Size, strength, weight, claws, teeth... you name it. The four violent Tokotas were very much in their element, and yet they showed clear restraint, only doing serious damage if they needed to. Despite everything else going on around them, it made Chobin smile a little to see that he had managed to teach them something at least during their journey to this country...

Mana gave Liam the job of picking the lock on one of the chains that held Fenrir, while she held off any bandits stupid enough to go near them. They laughed at her small stature, but it was Mana who had the last laugh when she was the last one standing, barely a scratch on her, while several full grown men lay unconscious at her feet. Once again barely acknowledging his sister's behaviour, Liam opened the lock, and removed the main chain holding the dire. Since it would be unwise to just let him run off with who knows what in his system, they couldn't remove the chains completely, but this would make him more comfortable until they could get a medical team out there.

For the first time that day, all of the Tokotas worked together as a proper team, and together they removed any threats to their handlers. Many a bandit would be waking up much later with some very nasty bruises, although there were a few very unlucky ones that were going to wake up feeling much worse... and some that weren't going to wake at all...

Sheepishly approaching Liam when everything was done, Chobin opened his mouth to speak but was met with a glare from the other handler. He knew that he had almost ruined their entire mission, and almost gotten them all into some serious trouble, but he felt like he at least should apologise... Still, Liam wasn't accepting it at all...

By the time the medical team could reach them, it was starting to get dark, and Fenrir was -understandably- quite distressed. Though he seemed to be able to tell that these new people's plans for him weren't nefarious. The break from watching over him gave the others some time to explore the rest of the camp, which proved to be a better idea than they had expected when Liam caught sight of a small vial in his sister's hands.
“Mana...”
“Liam...?”
Her eyes said it all, she wasn't going to take no for an answer here, and there was nothing he could do short of reporting her that would make her change her mind. Since she knew he wouldn't do that, he had to give up...

Chobin and Tagii watched in confusion as Liam wandered back over to the pair's Tokotas, praising them for their work in securing the bandit camp earlier that day. He and his sister had clearly been arguing over something, in their strange way of arguing, but what, they had no idea... Best not to ask though. Liam was clearly in no mood to talk, especially with them, and Mana... Well, they had seen her fight earlier and while Chobin was impressed, they were honestly a little weary of her for the time being. So that was out of the question.

Once they returned to the fork where they had met that morning, Chobin turned towards the siblings. He was unsure if he was to see them again now that the researchers were planning to clear off the mountains, and so would get his words in despite the warning looks coming from Liam. "I know vhen I do vrong, and I apologize." Some small part of him didn't care whether Liam accepted or not, so long as they herd it and it was off Chobin's chest. "You are strong in yourselfs. It is good to know you." Liam hardly acknowledged Chobin's words, but Mana nodded toward the brothers. "I suggest getting your pack in proper standings before you do on any more stake outs." Though Chobin was unsure what she meant by this, He spotted Tagii smiling ever so slightly, clearly listening yet looking away from the group.