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Dire Days Task 3

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The last task. Again a collab between Jackewa and myself.
This beauty of a background and the flatcolors were made by Jacky. And I did the outlines, shading, animation and the story.
And of cause a non animated version, so you can see all the gorgeous colors ;)



[...]

Japheth pulls out the map from Jack's backpack and opens it carefully. "Okay, what do we know?" Faris asks the punk with his echoing deep voice and the blond man looks around for a landmark he could recognize before searching it on the map. "I would say we are here." He says and points at some mountain tops. "Most radio transmitters haven't got the biggest of ranges. So the poacher can't be that far away." He continues and Faris nods agreeing. Japheth looks at the way Faris eye sockets seem to move. He has no eye lids in his dream hunter form and still he has a full range of emotions to show. It always fascinates the punk to see; since it seems the skull bone itself stretches and shrinks at Faris' will. But then he concentrates on the map again. "I heard them saying something about a canyon. An ice canyon." His friend gives out a loud growl. "The canyons are miles long and like a maze. How can we find them there?" Japheth thinks about it for a while searching the map for a canyon that fits what they know. After a while he points at one on the map. "The transmitter has a reach of about two miles. That shrinks the space enormous. Not far from here is the entrance to a canyon that is partly an underground tunnel system. It is pretty narrow, so we can slim our search field more." Faris thinks about it and his every move is followed by a soft clinging of some chains he has wrapped around his torso. On one end there is a lantern with an unholy green light, while the other ends in a sharp reaping hook. Japheth can only imagine what their proposes where back then, when Faris was still an active dream hunter in the realms of Morpheus'. But he has no idea what it is for on this side of the portal. Still he got the feeling that he might be witness to it quite soon. After a while of silence Faris nods. "Let’s go there. We have no other clues. And I will not let them get away this time." He says with a deep raspy undertone. For a moment Japheth looks at him suspiciously. "We are not going to kill them." It is half a question, half a demand. Faris looks at him with his glowing green eyes in silence before another soft echoing groan can be heard. "I do not promise anything."

So the two handler climb into the saddles of their Tokotas and start climbing down the mountain. From time to time Japheth checks the transmitter to get a new signal and a clue where they will have to go. But mostly the machine does nothing but making white noise. "Come ooon. They must be near." The punk mutters from time to time but with no use. After a while they reach the entrance to the canyon. Jack and Rajik seem nervous to go into these icy walls that look like there was once an ocean that just suddenly froze completely over. The winds stopped and only a few blows howl through the thick walls of ice. There is absolute silence besides a cracking noise whenever the ice shifts by millimeters. Both riders know about the danger of walking through these kinds of tunnels and canyons. The ice, although it seems completely motionless moves all the times inch by inch what is the reason for the cracking noises. Still it is so thick that it is more solid than a brick wall. It would need an unbelievable amount of heat or force to make these giant walls actually break loose. So Japheth and Faris straighten before leading there Tokotas into this giant maze. The sun light down here is darker than above, since the ice is so thick that it nearly doesn't let it through. Instead it makes marvelous lightning effects and gives it a dark blue and turquoise color. If they wouldn't be on the search for some dangerous poacher Japheth could enjoy the walk through the ice maze. On the other hand the punk has to admit, that the soft green light that Faris radiates makes the whole place look more eerie then it naturally already does. He thinks of asking his friend to turn it out and shape shift back in his normal form, when his Tokota suddenly stops. Surprised Japheth looks at Jack and Rajik stops as well shortly after. The ears of the Tokotas twitch and they sniff the air around them. "I think they found them." Japheth mutters and is surprised about how loud his whisper sounds in the emptiness of noise. Faris nods slowly and they make the two tundras go faster. Still they try to be as quiet as possible.

After a while they find a whole in the ice. It seems human hand have burnt it directly into the wall. It's just a niche with a wooden table and two wooden chairs. The poachers seem to have been on the qui vive for quite a while here. They continue walking, slower now before Rajik stops and makes Jack stop as well. "What is it?" Faris whispers and his echoing voice is even more echoing through the air. The tundra Tokota carefully digs at the bottom of one of the walls. Faris looks closely and sees a trip wire. "Traps again." He mutters and Japheth nods softly. "We need to be extra careful." He whispers and before the Tokotas slowly walk over the trip wire and the handlers intense their observations.  They have to avoid a lot of obstacles, from dripping wires to more bear traps and trap doors. But the longer they go, the more they are sure to be on the right path. From time to time they find human signs like sleeping bags or fur on the ground, chairs, forgotten tools and the like. The poacher must have their main base down here. After a few more minutes of walking the can hear a faint sound of growling. They have no idea what kind of animal would do such kind of noises. But it must be in pain. After a few more steps human voices echo through the icy corridors. "Reinforce that chain. I don't want him to get away." A muffled male voice cries over the animalistic roaring. "Don't worry. He is up nice and tightly. He goes nowhere." A female voice answers and another deep growl can be heard. "Shut up, you stupid thing." A strange sound can be heard and the animal gives out a sound like it was hurt. "Stop it, Amanda. I want him in one piece." Another male voice demands and the woman from before chuckles. "Why? I think his pelt will be worth a fortune." She says but the muffled man interrupts her. "He is way more than just a nice pelt. And now stop torturing helpless animals and help me fasten that chain."

Japheth climbs out of Jack's saddle and walks to the edge of one of the walls he can see a group of people on a clearing in the ice maze. As it seems he was right, they have their main base here. There are more sleeping bags and even tents down here, together with a giant snowmobile with a transport box fastened to it. And across the clearing on the next wall they have chained up a giant brown half mane dire. Japheth can see the chains and the muzzle they used to keep that Tokota from running away. He has never seen such a huge Tokota before. Not even the dire back home are this enormous and massive. From his hideout Japheth can see three men and one woman surrounding that beast. To his concern he can see weapons on them. From simple knifes and bows up to not so simple guns. Is that even all of them? The size of the poacher’s base suggests that there are more people out here, somewhere in the canyon. Japheth gasps silently. Did they walk right into a trap? Maybe there are others that closed in on them from behind. Slowly the punk backs off and walks back to Jack, Rajik and Faris. "We have found them." He tells them and Faris wants to run in, but Japheth stands in his way. "Wait. We can't just run in. They have guns. We would be dead before we could reach them." Bu Faris just snorts. "So what? I am immune to guns." He says but Japheth shakes his head. "No, you are not. If they should you in your brightly glowing crystal here you are as dead as can be." The punk says and points at the small light glowing under Faris' doublet. "How do you know?" The dream hunter wants to know and Japheth snorts. "Dad told me." He mutters but then shakes his head. "Even if you would be. Rajik, Jack and I are not. And you can't run in alone. So we need a plan." Japheth argues and Faris gives out a soft moan before nodding. "And what is your plan?" He wants to know and the blond haired man thinks about it. Sadly he isn't the one with great plans. So he shrugs after a while. Instead Faris has an idea. "Okay, how about that: I walk in as a distraction. I think my looks alone are enough to startle them. And you do what you can best: Sneak around unseen and steal whatever it is they have captured." Faris explains and Japheth thinks about it. "It's a giant dire Tokota. I think that is what they meant when they were talking about the "king of the dires"." He explains and now it is the dream hunter that is shrugging. "Whatever. I want them. So let’s do it."

But Jack and Rajik grab their owners by their jackets and look at them worried. They have no place in their plan and don't know what to do. "You keep back. Hide in earshot. We can't let you go there, boys. They would shoot you." Japheth explains but the two Tokotas are not obeying. To leave their handler behind is no option. But Faris buts a boned black hand on each of their noses and softly shoves them back. "You keep back here and hide. We will need you as soon as we freed that dire. Without you we can't escape from here. You have a serious and important role in our plan. You understand?" Rajik and Jack still aren't happy with this idea and want to argue. But Japheth already turned away and walks towards the end of the wall to hide behind a block of ice. Faris takes in a deep breath and strikes above his flaming hair before letting his bones crack. "It's Showtime." He mutters eagerly. It has been years since Faris did what he can do best: hunting down undesirable souls and scaring the shit out of them while doing it. With a last look at their two Tokotas he turns around and slowly walks into the cave out in the open. “Cling clang goes the chain someone’s about to find you… cling clang goes the chain the Warden’s right behind you.” Faris sings in a deep raspy voice. The poachers startled by the sudden noise turn around and look at the newcomer. “What on earth?” One of them asks and one of the younger men steps forward. “Hey you! Who are you? And what do you want?” He demands to know but Faris just chuckles in his deep echoing voice. His kecking laughter gets thrown back by the icy walls and makes it sound even more creepy. “Quick now,  the seeking chains, approaching with their shrill scrape.” Faris continues, ignoring the man walking right at him. Instead he picks up the chains around his torso and starts to slowly spin the end with a sharp deadly looking scythe in small circles. “Enough.” Screams the young man and runs towards Faris to attack him with a long metal rod. But the seemingly burning man just steps to the sight, lightly tiptoeing as if he would be a dancer. Then with a fast and powerful strike he hits the man’s weapon with his scythe. Not prepared for that the rod flies out of his hands and the younger man looks in shock. “You bastard!” He cries out and steps back from Faris looming figure. Again the green burning man just chuckles, his voice echoing against the icy cave walls.

At the same time Japheth crouches as silently as possible towards Fenrir, always running from one hiding spot to the next one. It seems Faris has the full attention of the poachers, so no one sees or hears him. Only one of them – a blond woman with a holster on her hip stands still right next to the big dire. The punk slowly comes closer but has no idea how to get the woman to walk away. When suddenly the woman gives out a loud sigh and pulls out her gun. “Just end this farce.” She mumbles towards her colleges and points her gun at Faris. A loud explosion can be heard and the bullet hits the burning man in the head, cracking his skull. The man’s head gets blown back, but he keeps standing. For a dramatic gesture and to buy time for Japheth Faris keeps this pose for a few seconds, listening to the reactions of the surrounding men to enjoy how they hold their breath and shift awkwardly, unsure what to do. When he thinks there has passed enough time he very slowly pulls his head back, giving out a low echoing growl. Faris glowing green eyes pierce the ones of the woman who has shot him and she gives out a soft curse. But instead of running away, what Faris hoped she would do she pulls up her gone and grips it harder. Again the green glowing man takes a deep breath and steps forward, seeing in the corner of his eye that the other man as well pull out their weapons to fight him. Faris plan was, that the men would run away of him. But as it seems they have more courage than he thought. That would be an ugly fight. Nevertheless, he has to buy time for the punk who meanwhile got to Fenrir and without a noise pets the big Tokota to keep it quiet before starting to pick the lockets of the dires chains. So Faris starts softly singing again, nearly hissing at his opponents. “Don’t stop, flee the chains! Your last chance to escape!”

His singing gets drown in the sound of the pistol of the woman. “Die, you freak!” she yells and shoots at his head, and torso, trying to shoot where his heart would be. This time the bullet aimed for his head misses, because Faris jumps to the side, but the bullet mend for his chest hits him at the shoulder and leaves a hole in his coat, shattering the shoulder bone beneath it. The black skeleton man touches the spot with his hand and growls softly. It doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t affect him – in this form. But as soon as he uses too much of his energy he would turn back and every injury his bones got will stay in his human form.  So he is understandingly angry for getting shot again. “You will die first.” He mutters and starts running towards the woman. But the men get out of there trance and overcome their fear and try to hit Faris with their knives, metal rods and other weapons. So the burning man has to dodge once again and starts fighting three of the man, while one of the poachers kneels down and tries to shoot Faris with bow and arrow. The woman keeps out of the fight for now, since she doesn’t want to risk hitting one of her own men. But suddenly, she hears the clinging of chains falling down and it is not the weapon of the strange burning man.

Immediately she turns around to see Japheth who loosened one of the chains holding Fenrir at the ground. The dire tries to pull hard on the rest of the chains what is the reason for the loud rattling sound. Without thinking the woman tries to should Japheth but the young man jumps to the side and rolls towards a crate to hide behind it. The bullet misses him and the woman curses loudly. “You stupid boys. Get out of here or we will kill you all.” She screams and steps towards Japheth’s hideout. The punk just laughs sarcastic. “You will do that anyway.” He answers and then all of the sudden turns himself into flaming blue wolf with a skull for a head. As soon as he hears the woman next to him he jumps out and tries to tackle her. The poacher can turn to the side to get most of the blow away, but she gets bloody scratches on her legs making her flinch. But she has no time to hate on Japheth because the young man attacks her again and dodges the bullets she shoots after him. “Die already!” She cries out and backs off as Japheth comes closer and closer to bite her head off.

Meanwhile Faris has quite his problems to get these men off his back. They are way too many and even if two of them are as young as him and obviously frightened of his ominous looks and his seemingly unlimited power, they still fight with all the panic they feel. Faris manages to hit his opponents again and again, gets to cut and punch them but he gets as many cuts and broken bones as them. He needs to end this fight quick. So he fights with everything he has and cuts through fabric and flesh, gets to block weapons and to hit some punches to the stomach. Faris just managed to overcome one of the older more experienced poacher and he holds up his scythe to finish the job. When suddenly one of the man rushes from the side and hits Faris directly into the stomach into his glowing mid. This glowing orb under his clothes is the weakness of the dreamcatcher and getting hit their actually hurts Faris even in his ghostly skeleton form. He gives out a loud breath and tries to get back on his feet, when the man who hit him hits against his chest and so brings him to fall back. “I got him!” The man screams in triumph and puts on a foot on Faris chest. “Not so tough anymore, are you?” He says, sure of his victory.

To the man’s demise a grey Tokota jumps onto him and crushes his arm underneath his paw. Faris immediately climbs back on his feet and steps next to Rajik, before climbing into his saddle. “Thanks boy.” He says and starts wheeling the chain of his weapon. At the same time Jack came out of his hideout as well and tries to jump at the woman that shoots at Japheth. The punk looks at his gray friend in shock as he sees him tackling the poacher. But the woman comes back on her feet  and one of her college comes to her aid. “You should never have come here.” He cries and wields his knife. Another fight erupts between the four groups. All of them fight fierce full and get injured in same amounts.

The woman fighting Japheth tries to hit the burning wolf with a wooden plank she picked up from the ground to defend herself against the claws and teeth of her opponent. The punk manages to knock her of her feet and the woman loses her patience again. “Die! Die! Die! All of you!” She screams and aims with her gun at his head. Since Japheth jumped in the air to land at her, he has no way of dodging this time and for a moment it is like time froze. The burning wolf realizes that he has done a mistake and closes his eyes, sure that this would be his end. But so he doesn’t see how Fenrir, who is still partly chained to the ground, raises his head and with all his might hits his jaw against the woman’s head. The woman manages to shoot before getting knocked out. Thanks to the dire’s punch the shot misses Japheth’s head but still hits the punk in the chest. Red flames immerge from the blue burning wolf and he starts tottering. Different from Faris Japheth actually gets hurt, even in his wolf form. And agonizing pain floods through his body. Jack sees in shock the red flames and jumps towards his friend defending him against any opponents that may come. Faris on Rajik’s back doesn’t realize what happens and laughs excited. He enjoys fighting the men that are now unable to actually hit him, since he sits in Rajik’s saddle. And Faris gets sure that they are not able to hit his Tokota in exchange. He is absolutely sure that they won when suddenly all of them stop and look towards Fenrir. Since two of his chains are gone the dire managed to escape the last two and now gives out a long and scaring howl. All fighters look at him astonished and just now Faris realizes the red flames coming out of Japheth’s body next to Jack. In shock he gives out a loud cry of agony and makes Rajik run towards him. On his way he cuts down his opponents like branches of trees. “JAPHETH!” He screams and jumps out of the saddle to step next to his friend and kneel down. With a touch on the man’s stomach Faris turns his friend back into a human, before cutting of a part of his jacket to bind it around Japheth’s wound. “Damn it. Can I not leave you for five minutes!” The man asks and looks up when he hears the shocked voices of the poachers. Immediately he jumps on his feet and turns around. But what he sees he cannot comprehend.

Bright as the north lights in the sky and from the same color, a ghostly dire Tokota stands in the mid of the ice cave, right next to Fenrir who has freed himself of the rest of the chains holding him. “What on earth is this?” He mutters softly and the ghost turns towards his voice. Both lock their eyes for a moment. Then the ghostly Tokota starts howling. All three other Tokotas join in the choir. Faris can’t say why but the situation has something creepy and if he would have skin at the moment he would get goose bumps. So he just listens in awe the four Tokotas before the ghost starts running right into one of the ice walls. For a moment the ice has a greenish turquoise shimmer to it before it starts cracking . “He is collapsing the cave!” Faris hears one of the poacher scream and the men start running into one of the many tunnels. For a moment Faris doesn’t understand what they mean before he sees big junks of ice fall down on the ground. Immediately he pulls up Japheth in his arms and runs towards Rajik to climb onto the Tokotas back. “Run! Run! Jack! You too! Run!” He demands the two grey Tokotas and both start running in a different tunnel then the poachers. When he turns back he sees Fenrir still standing in the mid of the cave not moving the slightest. “Run, you idiot!” He screams before a piece of ice blocks his view and the tunnel stops collapsing as well. Faris turns forward and with his glowing eyes he lightens their path so the Tokotas would see where they run. “Faster! Faster! Come on boys! We need to get out of here!” He screams over the rumbling sound of cracking ice and collapsing walls. Then suddenly a stone falls right in their way and Rajik stumbles over it. Faris and Japheth get thrown out of the saddle and the dreamcatcher holds his friend tightly while they slide over the floor. As fast as possible he tries to stand up again, but before he could reach back to Rajik another stone breaks out of the roof and parts them. Seconds later Faris and Japheth are trapped behind a wall of crumbling ice. Immediately Rajik and Jack try to dig their handlers out but the rocks are too massive and too hard to get through. They can see Faris and Japheth through a small gap between the ice rocks. Both Tokotas start to whimper and try to get them out, scratching against the thick ice. So Faris crouches towards the gap and sticks his hand out. Immediately Rajik presses himself against it and licks his friends fingers. “Run, Rajik! Take Jack with you and get out of here. We will find our own way!” Faris demands and Rajik gives out a whimper. “No! Go! Now! This is an order! You have to look for your nephew!” He insists and pets his Tokota over the nose before pushing him away. Rajik takes a step back looking in shock on the icy graves of his master and his friend. Jack still tries to dig through the blocks but Rajik pulls him at his collar and not a second too late. Another giant icy block smashes right where Jack was a second ago and would have smashed him. Jack wants to jump on the ice again to get out Japheth. But Rajik pulls at his collar again and gives out a barked order, pushing him away from the ice trap and towards a tunnel he hopes will be the exit of this icy cave.

Rajik and Jack run as fast as they can and they get out before they hear even more loud crumbling and when they turn around they see the carve exit collapsing. A cloud of snow lies over everything and the sound of crunching ice and stone is ear deafening. It takes a few minutes before the last noise is gone and creepy silence lies over the ruins of the cave. Just minutes ago there was a giant tunnel system and now everything is gone only rubble is left. Rajik and Jack look over the dark chaos beneath their feet. They see a small brown dot in the distance and don’t believe their eyes. Fenrir is still standing right in the mid of what is left from the canyon, unharmed and not moved the slightest. The dire looks around and suddenly starts walking away, leaving the sight of destruction. They look for any other sign of life down in the icy ruins. But no human can be seen. Not the poachers nor their handlers. Rajik and Jack slowly start walking and search for their human in the icy, now that it is safe. But to their disappointment they can’t find anything. They can’t even smell or hear them. Jack gets tense and starts running petrified of the thought that Japheth might be actually dead. He sticks his nose in any gap searching for his master. Rajik does the same looking and sniffing the ice. After half an hour without any sign and randomly digging in the ground both grey Tokota look at each other in shock. They can’t believe what seems to be the truth: They will not find their handlers. Never again. Overwhelmed with grieve the two Tokotas begin to howl. But no one is here to hear them.

The two of them are completely alone.





Tokotas Name: Jack
Link to Tokotas Import: Jack 2384 by TotemSpirit
Handlers Name:
Japheth
Task/Bonus Objective:
Task 3
Expedition Journal: Dire Days Expedition Journal

Tokotas Name: Rajik
Link to Tokotas Import:
Rajik 454 by TotemSpirit
Handlers Name: Faris
Task/Bonus Objective: Task 3
Expedition Journal: Dire Days Expedition Journal



Art
© MemosNiceSide
Breed © Tokotas 
Reference © Pocher-Refs: BirdsistersStock, Null-Entity, IngwellRitter-Stock, sebra
Faris: tursiart
Tokotas: eternal-ocean, djkb, Lakela 
Image size
1600x1167px 1.36 MB
© 2015 - 2024 MemosNiceSide
Comments15
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Null-Entity's avatar
Thanks for the stock use, the little animated touches are great :D