small wonders

Anatole Aston · 12-19-2011, 11:35 PM

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The duties of a scout, especially one who had not yet proven himself, dragged on endlessly. Anatole had all but mapped out the territory at this point, and knew exactly how long it would take him to cross from one end to the other, and where he would find certain animals, and which homes belonged to which families. It was a mindless sort of memorization that he was capable of, if not bored with. While having never explored scholarly pursuits, Anatole was a clever boy and yearned for discipline. No one here could give him what he needed, but he had glimpsed something in the rotund coyote-woman that he trusted. She had strength in her, even if she hid it. One day, he would be proud to follow her.

At least he convinced himself this as he continued endless loops, taking them in his lupus form as he always did. There were horses available, but he had never ridden and could not instinctively bring himself to do so. Yet more and more folks seemed to favor the massive beasts. Anatole couldn’t understand why; he could smell them and hear them coming a mile away. In fact…

He lifted his head and snorted, the reek of horse nearby. It was not one of the ones he recognized, and so he began trailing it even before the call came. Coyote. Even better. With quick steps and his head high, the dark male found the woman and her horse. She looked like a child to him, which perplexed him all the more.

“What?” The scout asked flatly, his body tense. She was from the clan he had passed on his way south, with the skulls. More than that, her large horse was taken as a threat as long as she rode it. That was, after all, what AniWaya had trained their own mounts for.

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