Partner (3)

'Why is this man glaring at me like that... I'm here to get paired up with a Tulak, not to get some clothes tailored for me, right?' Zok covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned, "OW! What the hell!?"

"I told you to stay still... didn't I?" The old man in front of him quaked, "You move again and this stick will blow your head away."

The old man in front of him looked like one of those ancient idols that the Zukira preached as their ancestors. His fossilized grey hair was proof of his age, and so was his time ravaged skin. His eyebrows were big enough to cover his eyes so Zok never knew where the old man was looking. For all he knew, the oldie could be sleeping with sitting on his wooden throne.

In his bone like fingers, the man held a well-decorated staff. Also, just like everyone else in the tribe, the old man too had a decent amount of tattoos and scars engraved on his body. But unlike the others, he wasn't sporting a goatee but his ragged beard was in the shape of a spade. His voice often broke and could be weak and fragile at times, but not when he was beating Zok up with his stick.

"My apologies, great tamer Sihu. You see, my son is a bit... erratic. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive him." Skah apologised from the far end of the room and bowed to the man who had taught him everything that he knew about taming beasts. He had gone away to take care of a few things along with Ahuli, after showing Zok around and had just returned.

"Ho-oh! The Chieftain himself has graced this old man with his presence." All of a sudden, the old man's invisible eyes were shining like he had seen the greatest treasure to ever exist. Sihu's seemingly weak legs immediately went into action as he jumped from his throne and rushed over to greet Skah.

"Master Sihu, you should take rest and not- OW!" Skah wanted to look out for his former teacher but ended up receiving a stick to the head instead, "What was that for-"

"Your son might be useless. But that's only because he had taken after your lazy a*s. So stop bad-mouthing your son in front of strangers!" Sihu proceeded to smack him one more time before retreating to his throne, "See what happens when you don't visit me for advice? You can ruin your life. Hmph."

"I... understand, master."

"Looks like even the chieftain is not unknown to the might of Master Suhi's legendary staff." Ahuli smiled as he joined his father to bow before Suhi.

"Ahuli, my child! It's been far too long." Suhi once again charged towards Ahuli but rather than hitting him, Suhi hugged him.

Ahuli had a special place in Suhi's old yet untainted heart. After all, he had been Ahuli's caretaker for the first five years of his life as Skah and Mirelia were both busy handling the tribe. One could say that Ahuli was the grandson Suhi never had. Thus Suhi never raised his staff against him, not that Ahuli gave him an opportunity to do so either.

"That it has been, elder," Ahuli said as he hugged the old man back.

'What's with all the cringe... blah.' Zok shrugged his shoulder and the next moment Suhi threw the staff towards him. He might have been old, but his senses were as sharp as ever. However, this time the old man's aim was a bit off. Instead of hitting Zok on the head, the staff hit him in the... crotch.

"I thought I told you not to move!" Suhi yelled at the top of his fragile lungs as Zok slumped down to his knees. The pain was much worse than how Zok had imagined. "Ahem... looks like my aim was a bit off. Well... a man has to go through this kind of pain sooner or later. You should be glad that I did it rather than a Tulak. Be optimistic and walk it off!"

"Yeah... sure... be optimistic... my a*s..." Zok mumbled as veins protruded from his forehead.

***

After some time when the pain had finally subsided, Zok returned to be examined by Suhi. The only difference was that his father and brother had joined in on the examination.

"What's your weight, frail boy?" Suhi asked while walking around Zok, looking at him from every angle, "What's your preferred weapon? Don't make me wait and answer quickly or I'll hit you again!"

"Around 56 kilos, I think. As for a weapon, I don't know how to use one..."

"Well... that's a bummer! You really are useless. A young man like you doesn't know how to wield a weapon? What were you doing all these years eh? Cuddling your pillow?"

"..."

"You have the perfect physique to be a wolf rider, but I doubt any wolf would accept you as a partner... Disappointing. Highly disappointing." Suhi shook his head but not before hitting Zok well over a dozen times, "Even Tulak's might reject you but let's try first. Follow me all of you."

Zok looked at Skah and well, he looked visibly upset. He knew his son was useless but hearing his teacher point it out loud, felt worse than he had expected. Ahuli's reaction to it was neutral as he already knew what Suhi would've said about Zok.

After walking for a couple of minutes, they finally arrived where the Tulaks were kept and trained. It was the first time Zok had seen so many of them freely running around. There were Tulak of a variety of colours ranging from the deepest shade of black to the alluring white.

While Zok was looking at the majestic creatures, a loud barking noise was heard from the far end of the room. He turned around and saw three enormous wolves were fighting with a handful of men. Their jaws looked fearsome as they tried to bite one of the men.

"They are all wild beasts. We still need to tame them." Suhi pointed at the wolves with his staff, "Primal wolves... extremely resilient creature. A bit more dangerous than conventional direwolves. Even hunters usually have a hard time taming them. It would have been much of a problem if we could somehow manage to tame their leader, as the other two are just following his lead. But it is what it is."

"The leader?" Zok asked while his eyes were still focused on the wolves.

"Yes, the leader. It's the big white one with a black snout. He's in the middle. Can you see him?" Suhi pointed at the one he was mentioning, "We call them the commander wolf. Among Tulak and Wolves, it is assumed that the lighter skin or fur they have the stronger they are so he is stronger than the rest. Also, that blacked snout of his is a symbol of aberration. Aberrated monsters are more dangerous than normal ones. So seeing that he was already stronger than other wolves before being aberrated, make him probably the strongest Primal wolf we have ever captured. That's another reason why it is so hard to tame him."

"That's interesting..." Zok couldn't have missed the leader, even if he desperately tried to. As he was twice as big as the others.

"But it doesn't look like they'll be able to tame them. But now that you are here, maybe the two of you can help us after Zok is paired up with a Tulak?" Suhi continued what he wanted to say to Skah and Ahuli.

"It'll be our pleasure, master," Skah replied before giving Suhi a quick nod.

"Now then, let's leave the wolves to the experts and find you a suitable Tulak." Suhi ushered Zok inside the stables.