RoK - Dun dun dun

The final rite was upon them. The small group just had to complete the rite of Knowledge and then their Arms of Akna would be complete for another three Tokotas, a necessary ordeal for anyone wishing to breed their Tokotas. Despite their usually competitive nature, Liam and Mana weren't particularly fond of the rites of fertility, not in the same way as other shows. After all, there was less variety in it, and the groups that participated together were quite small. Still, it needed to be done, it was almost a rite of passage for Tokotas, and a symbol to other handlers on what you could do as a handler. So although they were all a little tired from the ordeal that had been their rite of fortitude several days prior, the three handlers woke themselves up nice and early for their final test.

Also a little tired from their rite of fortitude, the three Tokotas were more than happy to stand still while their handlers groomed and tacked them up. Not that these three were usually much of an issue for the handlers. Umbriel was mostly solitary in nature anyway, and although Nyth and Venus still wanted to have a bit of a natter between themselves, they kept still doing it even if they weren't quiet. Umbriel seemed a little irritated by their constant noise, but she didn't do anything, simply staring as her father would have done in the same situation. Her ears pinned back for a moment, but then she seemed to switch off completely and calm herself down. Venus and Nyth seemed to pick up on her cues and quietened down a little bit, though they didn't go completely silent as the act seemed to relax the pair.

As the rite was typically quite fast paced, the group decided that there was no real rush in arriving as long as they got there on time, so once they were tacked up, the three Tokotas were walked over to the starting location. As a change to the usual rush of things, the Tokotas seemed to enjoy it, but not as much as the handlers did. Liam, Mana and Cain quickly found themselves in a deep conversation that had to be paused while they signed up. The trio were just swapping stories, laughing and joking the entire way there. Both sibling handlers felt that Cain was holding something back from them, but their mood was far too good to be ruined with probing questions.

The rite began, as it usually did, quite slow in terms of action. Before they could even begin to think about the tagged Tokotas, they first had to find the pack, which was often a feat in itself. They had been told to run and hide from handlers attempting to get the tagged Tokotas from their ranks, so they didn't make it easy on them.

Tracking was never overly difficult as soon as the first signs were found. After all, the Tokotas were trying to run from the handlers but weren't overly good at hiding their tracks, they were only animals at the end of the day. So very quickly after they had started, everyone was silent, focusing completely on the tracks. Umbriel and Mana lead the way, with Liam and Nyth, and Cain and Venus following behind more or less side by side. While Mana was determined to do the majority of the tracking alone, the male handlers were just enjoying the silence between them. It was quite comfortable, just listening to the sounds of the forest around them. The wind in the trees, the faint sound of running water from a small stream behind them somewhere, the howl of a Tokota... Wait a second...

Steering their mounts in the direction of the howl, the group quickly came upon the pack. What luck that had been. The pack had clearly moved in some kind of circle, so it would have taken the handlers much longer to find them via tracks alone. This was much better. Now that the pack was in sight, they could look for the tagged ones. Taking a halter each, the three decided to split up to cover more ground. It would hopefully be easier that way.

Cain hung his halter over the side of Venus' saddle, making sure that it didn't bother the extended marked half mane while they walked. Working together, the pair tried to catch a glimpse of a flash of colour that would mean an ear tag, but luck was not in their favour for the moment. Venus politely skirted her way around the other Tokotas in front of her, not wanting to bother them more than she needed to, after all that was rude. They were in no rush to finish, they still had plenty of time, so she took it slowly.

Liam and Nyth seemed to have the same idea, until they stumbled upon one of the Tokotas that they were looking for. In front of them, staring right at them, tail wagging wildly behind him, was a rather familiar extended dun half mane male. Nestled amongst the tawny shades of his pelt was a small red tag attached loosely to his ear. He definitely knew its meaning, as he was staring right at them, prepared to dash if needed. Wrath, Liam thought his name had been, so he whistled to him, hoping that he would just make their job much easier, but no luck. Still, he never seemed to move too far away, making it seem as though he were merely toying with them for a little while before he gave in. Nyth was patient, she didn't mind this game with the half mane, as long as he didn't want her to move too fast. So the pair played that game of cat and mouse for a while, trotting after one another and nipping playfully at necks and flanks as friends would. When the van gogh female stopped, he stopped a little way in front of her, head cocked as he silently enquired about their game. Nyth's ears flicked back for a moment, her head shaking a little as she decided that she didn't want to play this game any more. So Wrath trotted over to them, allowing Liam to place the halter over him without any additional fuss. He probably would have stayed with them regardless though, trotting along behind them with the halter quite slack simply because he wanted to follow. So with their part done, Liam urged Nyth on a little so that they could find one of the others and help them get their Tokota as smoothly as they had gotten theirs. But it wasn't going to be that simple for all of them, that's for sure.

The pair quickly met up with the other dark van gogh in the group. Mana and Umbriel didn't seem to be in a hurry so it was quite obvious that they had not located their tagged Tokota yet. For the briefest of moments, familiarity flashed across the black van gogh's eyes at the sight of the extended dun male, after all, she had been a part of the small group that had found him originally while he was travelling with another group. She leaned in close, touching noses with him but then withdrawing as quickly as the exchange had happened, returning to her usually stoic nature. Wrath seemed a little confused by the sudden changes, but seemed to appreciate her gesture as a greeting anyway. Nyth also seemed a little confused, but it was probably more to do with the gesture than the changes as she was used to Umbriel's distant attitude. Still, she didn't press it, but did give the black van gogh female a bit of a gentle nudge as she trotted past. Wrath followed along behind Nyth, then Umbriel followed behind him, allowing the others to lead the way.

When Nyth suddenly stopped in her tracks, Umbriel moved up to stand beside her, looking over at what the dark pelted tawny van gogh had seen. The Tokota in question hadn't spotted them yet, which was probably a good thing considering who it was. Daisy, a Tokota from their tribe. Her behaviour was very changeable, so it was unsure how she would act in this situation. She was mostly white, covered in piebald, with a scattering of exposed patches of dark brown with heavy dun and merle. A blue tag hung from her ear, bright against her pale fur. Silently, so as not to alert her to their presence, the handlers exchanged looks, making their plan with hand signals and body movement rather than words. The siblings had more than enough experience with this type of talking to one another, so the plan was formed very quickly.

Splitting up, Liam, Nyth and Wrath stayed where they were, watching the female Tokota, while Mana and Umbriel moved around to try and cut off her exits. Of course it would be easier with three handlers, but Cain was nowhere to be seen, so there was no use trying to find him. Hopefully he had already tracked down the final tagged Tokota. Though the pack was large, so chances were he was still wandering around looking.

Getting themselves into position, Mana signalled to Liam. Her action was noticed by the piebald female, her bi-coloured eyes settling on the black van gogh female and her handler. Her body tensed as she figured out what she was going to do, but she didn't move, so for now she was clearly standing her ground. Fur bristling on both ends, neither Umbriel or Daisy actually acted aggressively, but they were both on the edge of it just in case the other crossed the line. Both were known to be a little hot-headed at times, but neither really liked conflict if they could avoid it.

All of the fight left Daisy when she noticed Liam, Nyth and Wrath approaching from the other side. This was no longer a stand off, they had her. So before they could do anything else, she turned on a dime and ran. Umbriel was quick to give chase, before Mana even knew what was happening, making her grip a little tighter on the van gogh's mane than usual. Umbriel didn't seem to mind though, focused entirely on the chase. Nyth and Wrath followed after, but they had been further away, so the distance was kept.

Though Daisy was fast, the Tokotas around them made it difficult for a long chase to take place. She had to keep twisting and turning to keep running, giving Umbriel the chance to catch up little by little each time. When she had caught up, Umbriel matched her pace to Daisy's, keeping in time with her and sticking very close to the other female. She was impossible to shake, though Daisy tried. Mana eventually slipped the halter over her head, and gently slowed the pair back to a trot so that Liam, Nyth and Wrath could keep up. Nyth looked quite tired, though Wrath seemed to have enjoyed the chase.

“Liam, here.” Mana handed him the rope that attached to Daisy's halter, letting Liam attach it to his saddle alongside Wrath's. “You head away from the pack, wait for Cain and I closer to the organisers camp. Nyth looks like she could use the rest.”

Liam seemed a little unsure, but one look down at the half mane van gogh told him that she definitely needed the rest. She wanted to keep going, but it wasn't a good idea. The poor thing had probably kept herself awake the night before hoping that things went well for the final rite. She was such a worrier. Nodding to his sister, he took the halter, doing as he was told, then leading the two Tokotas away with him. Wrath was still very happy to follow along, chattering loudly with Nyth, but Daisy was being a little more stubborn. She pulled on the rope, trying to slip her halter, but only for a little while. She calmed down soon enough, just trudging along behind them.

With that sorted, and only one Tokota to go, Mana turned Umbriel around and started her search for Cain and Venus. They had been absent for some time.

Finding them was surprisingly easy all things considered. They were the only ones moving at speed in the pack, mostly anyway, because the other Tokotas quickly returned back to their usual pace. The pair were clearly chasing after something, so they had found their tagged Tokota, but Mana couldn't see who it was – only a tawny blur as it raced past. Urging Umbriel to follow, waving to Cain as the pair chased down this Tokota. When it found itself blocked by other Tokotas, it let out a small howl, the tone fairly authoritative so this was a Tokota that was used to being around others. Mana was sure that she recognised the sound, but she hadn't heard it very clearly with everything else going on, so she couldn't be sure.

Cain waved back very quickly to Mana, then urged Venus on faster since he now had the back up if he needed it. He knew who he was chasing, but it looked like Mana didn't know yet. Dyami, Mana's yeti Tokota. The male thought this was a great game, and was having a wonderful time winding Cain and Venus up with his tactics. The Tokota knew how to get other Tokotas to do as he asked, so they would move out of the way, and he had more than enough speed and energy on his side. Whenever Cain thought he was getting close, somehow that yeti would slip from his grip. What a menace. Considering he wasn't the brightest of Tokotas, it was hard to believe that he was this skilled in avoiding them.

Venus was usually a fairly calm Tokota, but Dyami was really testing her patience right now. She was starting to get annoyed, a sentiment shared by her handler. Since he was still in front, he gestured back for Mana to take a short cut to make the yeti stop. He shouted back at her to let her know who they were chasing, but he wasn't sure if he had heard her because of how out of breath he was. Oh well. She would soon realise.

Doing as she was told, Mana took Umbriel off to the side while Cain kept Venus on the heels of the Tokota. She assumed that she was there to cut off the Tokota, which was definitely part of the plan, but Cain also hoped that just seeing his handler would make Dyami stop running. Hopefully it would work, he was tired, and he was sure Venus felt the same way.

The chase continued on a little further, but luckily enough the yeti Tokota did stop himself as he spotted his handler, running up to her with his tail wagging madly behind him. He licked her arms, irritating Umbriel a little in how close he got, but she tolerated it because Mana started laughing. Venus didn't even care that their chase wasn't finished by them, she was just glad that it was finished, so when Cain tossed the halter over to Mana, she stopped moving completely to catch her breath.

Dyami seemed to still have so much energy, which wasn't overly surprising for him really, but he mostly stayed still while everyone else rested momentarily. Then when they started moving again, he kept trying to overtake Umbriel, but the female was a little snappy in her tiredness, so he didn't try that too many times. Even Venus gave him a little bit of a growl when he got in her way, but she seemed apologetic about it very quickly afterwards. She was just tired.

Meeting up with Liam and collecting the other two that had been rounded up, the group made their way back towards the organisers camp rather slowly. Nyth, Daisy and Wrath had rested during the others' chase, but they kept their pace slow since they had noticed that they were struggling a little. Apart from Dyami obviously, but he was just abnormal.

It would take a while for them to all get their scores, so they sorted everything out and headed home, relieved to be finished. Everyone decided that they were going to sleep in the next morning and let someone else suffer a little. It was only fair.

Their pace was very slow at first... But despite their exhaustion, at the mention of treats when they get back to camp, the Tokotas all picked up their pace a little to get home faster. Funny how much energy they really have left when treats are mentioned. It certainly gave the handlers something to laugh about on the way back, which was all that mattered.
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HP -
Word count (2816) - 14HP
Handler bonus - 2HP
Tribe bonus (All but Wrath) - 2HP
Non commissioned bonus (Nyth, Umber, Venus, Dyami) - 1HP
Show bonus (Venus, Umbriel, Nyehith) - 1HP

Totals - In description