RoK: Twice The Trouble

There was a calm stillness over the farm that was only broken by the occasional sound from one of the farm animals. The stillness however, was soon shattered as a voice rang out. “What did you say?” Thrace’s voice was raised in anger as she glared at Luce, who simply looked down at her, with a hint of amusement in her blue eyes. “You heard me.” the longmane replied. “I dare you to say it again.” Thrace growled, the fur on her back standing on end. “Is this to big of a task for you?” Luce mocked, as she leaned forward ever so slightly with each of her words. Trembling with withheld anger, Thrace was about to pounce towards Luce when she was picked up off the ground. “Put me down!” she cried out in protest while turning her head to glare at Pandora. “We aren’t here to start fighting with one another.” Pandora replied, her words somewhat muffled. “Do you really think a toki is a suitable babysitter for two pups?” Luce asked, her voice laced with mockery. “Look. If I could, I’d watch over Tome and Kargora by myself. However. They are a bit of a pawful.” Pandora said, letting out a defeated sigh as she put down Thrace on a barrel of wheat.

“What do you mean with that? How hard can it be to watch over two pups?” Thrace questioned, raising an eyebrow. Pandora shuffled a bit, while keeping herself from making eye contact with either one of the two, who now had their full attention turned towards her. “Don’t tell me…” Luce started as a smile slowly crept across her lips. Thrace looked at Luce before returning her gaze to Pandora, who was getting increasingly flustered. “It wasn’t my fault!” Pandora suddenly exclaimed, startling both Luce and Thrace. “They were there one second and then… I don’t know!” Pandora looked up and her gaze moved between the two. “So you lost them then?” Luce asked calmly, even though it was clear that it was more of a statement than a question. Pandora didn’t reply, and looked down at the dirt beneath her paws. “Maybe if we weren’t fighting, we still would have known where they are.” Thrace said, before jumping down from the barrel. “Now let’s go find these two. Tome and Kargora right?” she said as she passed Pandora.

Luce and Pandora followed after Thrace as she walked to the spot where the two pups had been before Pandora lost sight of them. Stopping before a large barn, Thrace looked at Pandora. “You lost them somewhere around here right?” she questioned, prompting Pandora to nod. “It’s a rather well sized farm, depending on where they went, it could take a while before we find them.” Luce said with a shrug. “Don’t say that!” Pandora exclaimed. Since she’d been the one watching the two siblings, she felt responsible for having lost them. “We’ll find them.” Thrace said as she sniffed the ground. The scents she got were a mix of different animals. From what she could tell, a few horses, cows and chickens had been there during the day, but she could still distinguish Tome and Kargora’s scents as they were more recent. “Be my guest and lead on, fearless one.” Luce said as she made a mock bow. Thrace fought back the growing need to snap back at her and focused her attention on the scent of the two pups. With Luce and Pandora following after her, Thrace took the lead to try and track down the two missing siblings.

As they walked around the farm, the scent took them in several circles, before Thrace stopped next to a fence. “Found them yet?” Pandora asked, her voice full of concern. “No but they’ve been here, that’s for sure. I just don’t know if they still are or not.” Thrace replied as she looked at the cows on the other side of the fence. The cattle looked like they were a bit rattled, and they looked at the trio of tokotas with suspicious eyes. “Looks like our quarry caused quite the stir.” Luce pointed out as she moved her eyes over the cattle. “I don’t think they’re here anymore though.” she added with a nod towards the pawprints inside the pen. Following them with their eyes, surely enough, they led out of the pen only to disappear in the dirt once more. “Who would have thought that two pups could be such a pawful.” Thrace muttered. At first the three hadn’t thought much about watching over Tome and Kargora, but now, it seemed like it would be more trouble than they’d initially thought. Resuming their search, it soon took them to what once could only call a disaster area.

“What happened here?!” Pandora’s eyes were wide as she looked at the pen in front of them. “I’d say a hurricane went through here.” Thrace said before slowly walking inside the pen. Luce sat down, as she refused to enter it, seeing as she didn’t want to get her mane messy. Inside the pen were plenty of paw prints from Tome and Kargora, as well as a dozen from the hens and rooster that resided there. Not only were there feed scattered around the ground, but feathers lay everywhere, and some were still floating down from having been sent up into the air. Thrace went over to the coop and looked inside. The hens looked at her, but didn’t seem that worried to see her, as much as one would call them dumb birds, these seemed to be able to tell her from the two pups that hard caused them some trouble. “Are they in there?” Luce asked from her spot at the fence. “No, but there’s a few broken eggs on the ground.” Thrace replied and looked towards Pandora. “It doesn’t look like any of the hens are hurt.” the toki said, and Pandora’s expression relaxed. “I’m glad. With all the feathers, I thought for a moment…” she stopped herself there.

Rejoining Luce, the three took a look at the different building around them. They still hadn’t looked inside the barn, and since the farmhouse was locked, there was no way the two could have gotten inside there. While there was a stable there, it was at the other end of the farm. “So where do you suggest we go?” Thrace asked. “I don’t know.” Pandora sighed. “Let’s take a moment and listen for a while.” Luce said simply. Both Thrace and Pandora looked at her with their heads tilted, neither of them knowing where she was getting at. But since Luce didn’t offer any explanation, the two stayed silent and listened. They could hear the hens and in the distance the cows. Other than that, nothing sounded out of the ordinary. Except for one thing. “Is that…” Thrace started. “The rooster, yes.” Luce replied as she stood up and headed towards the barn. Exchanging looks, Pandora and Thrace followed after her to an open side door. Inside they could hear the rooster as it made some kind of cackle. Sure enough, they found the rooster standing on a bale of hay, looking at the two pairs of eyes glancing down at the bird. “Fun's over.” Kargora sighed, while Tome simply rolled his eyes, when they spotted the trio.

“Do you know how worried I was?” Pandora scolded the two pups as she looked over them for any injuries. Neither Tome nor Kargora replied, but Thrace and Luce could tell by their expressions that the pups didn’t really care. “If you wanted to play, you could have said so.” Pandora sighed, happy that neither of them had any wounds on them. “You wouldn’t have liked the games we play.” Tome muttered, turning his head away. Kargora shook her head before laying down on the hay with a yawn. “Do you think it’ll be easier now that we know where they are?” Thrace asked, looking up at Luce. “I think so.” she replied, watching as Pandora curled up around Kargora, only to have Tome nestle up between her front legs. “See it like this.” Luce said after a short silence. Curious, Thrace lifted her gaze only to see a very amused smile on Luce’s lips. “At least you wouldn’t let a rooster chase you up on a haybale.” the longmane said with a snicker. As much as she tried to, Thrace couldn’t hold back her own laughter. Pandora smiled as she listened to the two. At least they’d settled their differences for now. If it could last while Tome and Kargora slept remained to be seen.