Tenokit

"Water Strider Across Swamp Water"

Passing through the taiga on his way to the frozen north, Kaufolac could have sworn he saw the pale figure of his mentor Oroulepac in the trees. He followed the glimpses, called for the accompanying yearling Leir-barru to do the same, and at the end of the trail they found a pup with strange scents nearly faded from his fur. Both knew what Uruhouou had told them of the taiga wolves, and neither wanted to linger – Leir-barru suggested they leave the pup to its fate, or if anything kill it to save its suffering, but Kaufolac was sure his vision had been a sign. He insisted they bring the pup back to their pack.

Though both scouts half-expected the pup to die on their way back, he managed to survive the journey with remarkable strength. When they returned to the camp, Uruhouou was waiting for them, as though she had somehow expected their arrival, and pronounced her certainty that the pup was the spawn of her own pups’ sire: a member of the murderous pack that prowled the taiga. She had sensed it, as was often her way; even if she had not, the physical resemblance was too strong to ignore. Uruhouou claimed the pup as her own, hoping to guide him away from the dark influence that had left its mark on his sire and natal pack, and gave him the name Tenokit – a name of the swamp, with no reference to the pack he was born into. That, she was determined, would not be the legacy of this innocent pup.

Now fully grown, Tenokit can be a bit of a hellion at times. Luckily for everyone’s sanity, he also turned out quite the momma’s boy – though Uruhouou explained that they had no biological relation as soon as he was old enough to understand, he strongly considers her his mother, after she invested so much of her time and energy into seeing him through to adulthood. Even in his most vicious strops, a sharp word or disappointed frown from Uruhouou will set him straight, if sulky. Tenokit’s flaws are those of a regular wolf, not one tainted by the touch of cruel spirits – and at least as far as Uruhouou is concerned, that is enough.