#wolf statue

Me and our mom went thrifting!!!

Takari Week 2024 - Day 1: First Summer

Tai, Yolei, and Ken are setting off on a trip. There’s a lot of yelling between Tai and Yolei as they get ready, but Tai takes a moment to check in that Kari will be okay for a week or so. She reassures him and sends them all off with a smile. It’s already late in the day; Tai and the others prefer to travel at night. Kari and Tai promise each other that they’ll stay safe, and then they’re gone.

Takari Week 2024 - Day 5: Fifth Adventure

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Kari finds T.K. outside the house, staring at the old forest. When she expresses concern, he tells her that he heard his brother calling and that he needs to answer. She’s confused.

T.K. tries to say goodbye to her but she has this strange feeling that she has to go with him. Before she can tell Tai, T.K. bolts. 

Kari and Tai chase after him, leaving Yolei and Ken behind. Kari feels very unsettled about the whole situation and how distressed T.K. is. She and Tai can barely keep up with him. 

T.K. disappears into the trees, and Kari gets separated from Tai, too. She keeps going through the forest, completely lost, feeling increasingly desperate. She just knows she has to find T.K. or something will happen.  

Finally she stumbles into a clearing and comes face to face with a giant white wolf. Its hackles are up and it’s growling. It locks eyes with Kari and she stops moving. She’s never seen a wolf before. A second later, she feels like that’s not true because the wolf has blue eyes and she knows she’s seen them before.

This time feels very different, though. She’s frozen, not knowing what to do. The wolf doesn’t attack her but it keeps growling. Suddenly, its growls increase in pitch and she hears footsteps behind her.

“Matt!” It’s T.K.’s voice. Slowly, she looks away from the wolf and at T.K. He doesn’t seem afraid, just concerned and a little confused. He puts his hands out, calling the wolf “Matt” again and apologizing for taking so long to answer him.

The wolf only snarls, eyes darting between the two of them. T.K. smiles at her and tells the wolf her name, explaining that she helped him. 

Kari stares. She didn’t expect this at all when T.K. said he was looking for his brother, but she just knows that T.K. is telling the truth. Somehow she knows that what she does next is important. Very slowly, she moves towards T.K. The wolf is still tense, fur raised, watching them.

When Kari lays her hand on T.K.’s arm, the wolf lowers its hackles and shakes its head. It looks confused and distressed. 

Kari smiles at it, following her instincts. She doesn’t really know why she’s doing this but it feels right. The wolf shakes its head again. T.K. asks what's wrong. He pulls away from Kari to approach it. 

The wolf backs away from him, but T.K. follows it. He reaches out to it and the wolf freezes. Kari blinks and for a moment she sees not T.K. but another white wolf, a little smaller, standing there. Then she blinks again, and it’s T.K. holding the wolf’s head in his hands. The wolf leans forward to sniff him and its tail begins to wag.

Takari Week 2024 - Day 2: Second Year

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T.K. and Matt were born in the same litter, the only two survivors. The wolves are dying out and there are fewer and fewer living pups. Matt grew strong and healthy but T.K. was always weaker and more sickly. Matt protected him, and he rarely strayed from Matt’s side. As they got older and Matt got stronger, though, he had more trouble staying close, especially when Matt was hunting, so Matt started finding safe places for him to hide nearby.

Tai and Kari were the children of a wealthy family. At a young age, Tai decided that he wanted to be an adventurer and a treasure hunter. He would often take off exploring the woods around their family’s lands, searching for treasures. As soon as Kari was old enough to walk, she started toddling after him, although he never meant to bring her. 

One day she was following Tai and got lost in the woods because she couldn't keep up with him. She wandered around until night fell, not really frightened but increasingly unhappy that she couldn’t find him. She was also getting cold and hungry and ready to go home. As the night got darker, she started to cry.

The bushes next to her rustled, and she found herself face to face with a young wolf, just barely grown, although Kari was too young to know that. They stared at each other for a moment, then the wolf licked the tears from her face. Kari giggled. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of shouting and there were lights in the distance. The wolf shrank back and fled.

Takari Week 2024 - Day 4: Fourth Contact

@takariweek

Kari and T.K. are out in the market. Kari is tired because she didn’t sleep well the night before. She keeps drifting back to the strange dream she had about people running through the old forest near her home. They didn’t seem to be running from anything, just running together for the sheer joy of it. And the one in the lead, he’d looked back and his eyes were a familiar piercing blue. 

Kari can’t help but feel like the dream meant something, but she’s not sure what it could be. T.K. just lets her think, taking in the sights and sounds of the market with his usual wide-eyed wonder. 

Then, they’re stopped by a girl with red hair, offering to sell them a flower. Kari is startled back into awareness and realizes that, though she rarely passes through this part of the market, it’s very familiar to her. She’s been here recently. Her eyes drift over the familiar buildings and come to a stop on an empty pedestal. 

She knows that pedestal. She remembers that night so clearly, seeing the statue sitting forlornly in the snow. She’d been caught by how sad the wolf’s eyes looked. But the pedestal is empty now. Kari sweeps her eyes over the street, looking for some sign that she’s mistaken but it’s the same street, the same shop. Only the statue is missing. The statue with sad eyes.

T.K. leans over to look at her, concerned by her sudden distress. She looks up into his face and realizes where she’s seen the eyes of the man in her dream. T.K.’s eyes are the same brilliant blue, with a touch of sadness in them. Just like the statue of the wolf.